Tangled Hearts
by Snow-hime
Summary: Sasuke was a major league jerk. Not only did he have the nerve to think of other kunoichi as weak but he made Mai's best friend turn into a fan girl! As if things weren't bad enough they're partnered together in the academy, that's the ONLY reason that she hasn't killed him. She really didn't want to fail the academy.
1. Chapter 1

**Me: Yay, new fanfiction!**

**Sasuke: *snorts* What do you mean new? You've had this for months baka.**

**Me: You're so mean, I can't believe that you're Itachi's brother. You aren't even cute!**

**Sasuke: Then why are you writing a fanfiction with me in it?**

**Me: I thought that it would a challenge to write something that didn't make it obvious that I hate your guts.**

**Sasuke: *mutters* Nerd...**

**Me: *cracking knuckles* Oh Mai~**

***Sasuke runs as I give a triumphant grin* **

**Me: She hasn't even been introduced yet... Does he really think my mind is that scary? Anyways, I don't own Naruto and if I did the whole show would have been about the Akatsuki. Seriously, isn't Naruto a type of ramen? Who names their kid that?**

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**Chapter 1: Uchihas are Nothing but Trouble**

Sakura was crying once again, her crush had once again ignored that she even existed. "Why?" She sobbed, burying her head in her best friend Mai's shoulder. Mai looked down at her pink haired friend and sighed. She really didn't know what the big deal was about Sasuke Uchiha. He was a stuck up emo kid that thought that he was better than everyone else, especially kunoichi. That was the part that pissed her off, whenever he said that the girls in the class were only becoming ninja to get guys. "Don't worry about it Sakura, the guy is a major league jerk. Aim for someone that's better looking and actually nice, let him live his desolate life." Mai says, but she was completely surprised when her friend glared at her. "That's not true and he's never done anything to you or said anything mean!" Sakura sobbed.

Mai couldn't tell if she was crying tears of sadness or if they were tears of fury. Knowing Sakura it was both. "That's because I'm not obsessed with him like you are." Mai sighed. "I am not! You are so mean Mai, I hate you!" Sakura cried, running away from her only friend. Mai sighed once again; she was only trying to get the reality of the situation through to her friend's thick skull. She was on the road to becoming one of those crazy fan girls that would kill any poor unsuspecting girl within a foot of the gloomy idiot. She felt sorry for Sakura but apparently her friend wanted to learn this lesson the hard way. Her short dark blue hair blew softly into her face, trying to blind her with her bangs. "Sakura-chan… Don't do anything stupid." Mai sighed.

The next day in class Sakura was laughing with the popular girl Ino. A.K.A. the leader of the Crazy Sasuke Fan Girl Brigade. "I told her not to do anything stupid but what does she do? Becomes friends with a girl that makes her obsession look like a crush." Mai muttered. Iruka-sensei went to the front of the class and cleared his throat, everyone sat down quickly. "Today class I will be moving you around because some people," He glared at Naruto. "Won't take training seriously." He finished. All the boys in the class groaned while the girls squealed, hoping that they would get the chance to sit next to Sasuke.

"Idiots, did they forget that they have to spar with the people that are next to them and be partners for the remainder of the school year?" She honestly couldn't see Sasuke going easy on any of the girls in class. I wonder if I should cheer for the jerk to kill a fan girl or just pray that Sasuke dies from fan girl love; maybe then Sakura will get over him. Mai thought with a chuckle. She looked over at Sakura, who turned her back and ignored her. Fine, be stubborn! It will only get you so far. Mai thought.

"Mai and Sasuke Uchiha, you will both be partners." Sakura and the other fan girls glared at Mai. It isn't like I wanted this to happen! Mai wanted to yell but she didn't want to piss Iruka sensei off even more. Sasuke didn't hear the tell tale squeal of a fan girl and he looked around the room in curiosity. A girl with short blue hair and dark green eyes stood up from her chair and lazily walked over to the seat, trying not to glance at his face as she sat down. "I'm gonna kill Iruka sensei for this." Mai growled as Sasuke jumped a little in surprise. He thought that the only person in his class that hated him was Naruto; he didn't think that it was possible for a girl to hate him.

The class started with solo training, much to the relief of Mai. She was afraid that if she sparred with Sasuke that one of them would end up in the hospital. The others were dismissed and only a few people stayed afterwards. Sasuke was getting in last minute training; Iruka was grading papers and sighing wistfully to himself wondering why he chose to become a sensei and Mai? She burst into the room angrily, a vein throbbing on her head. The door slammed behind Mai but it stayed open just a crack.

Sasuke was on his way to the classroom, ready to pick up his things when he heard shouting from the room. He was never one to eavesdrop but it was hard not to when he peeked in and realized that it was that girl and Iruka-sensei. "What do you mean you can't move me? And how the heck did you decide the seats anyways? Just let me trade with one of the stupid fan girls!" Mai yells angrily. Sasuke flinched slightly, she really didn't like him. "Like I've told the class a thousand times Mai I ordered you all by skill. You and Uchiha are both tied for being rookie of the year and people are already curious to see how a bout match will go between you two." Iruka says.

"I don't care about a stupid match I refuse to be partners with him, I'd rather be pulled under by quick sand or have my leg blown off by an explosion!" Mai protests. Iruka had a really calm look on his face then he yelled at her. "This is my decision and that's final! Now go home!" Mai's ears rang and she scowled. She opened the door swiftly and tore it out of the door way. "Mai!" Iruka yelled angrily, but she didn't care. She walked past Sasuke without a word, so consumed by her anger she didn't notice him.

Mai was the first one in class and she sat at her newly assigned seat with a scowl. She didn't know which was worse; that she had to be partners with the Uchiha or that Sakura betrayed her and went over to the dark side. Fortunately for Sasuke, the betrayal was hitting her harder than his presence. It wasn't like he volunteered to be her partner, and maybe he was just as pissed off as she was. Sasuke sat next to her and she scowled but did nothing more. Sasuke was surprised, she sounded like she was ready to kill him in her argument yesterday. She brought out her papers to study the chakra channels that ran through the body for her anatomy class when a hand slammed down on the desk. "What do you want Princess?" Mai growled as Sakura flinched. Mai was tired of the fan girls and if Sakura wanted to be one, then she would be treated the exact way that Mai treated those morons.

Sakura almost cried, she wanted to apologize to her but she knew that she was now at the point of no return. There was only so far that Sakura could push her friend without finally being deemed a lost cause. "Just watch your back." It was meant to come out as a threat but she barely choked the words out before running back to Ino. Ino quickly comforted her, patting her on the back. "She's so scary; I can't see how you were friends with her in the first place. We'll get back at her" Ino says as Mai went back to studying. Sakura nodded, wiping her tears that threatened to run down her cheeks. Mai quickly skimmed the diagram then sighed. Her brother made her practice with his team after coming home from the academy, making her repeat everything that had been taught several times over until they were satisfied. The leader of their group was really strict and expected nothing less than perfection, that guy was really hard to please. He already had her studying the chakra system and having her working on a technique that was similar to his clan's technique.

Mai looked up from her studying when she heard Iruka's voice; she still wanted to kill him. "Alright class, today you will be sparring against your new partners, using taijutsu only." There were groans from the majority of the class and Sasuke scowled. He wasn't exactly very gifted in that department but it didn't matter, there was no way that a kunoichi could defeat him. "Well then Uchiha-san, let's get the fight started." Mai says, since he was one of the top students he was sure to be a challenge. She thought back to her sparring match with Sakura, the other girls in her class were really weak. She dragged Sasuke towards the training grounds, ignoring the glares that she received from his fan girls. Unknown to her they had some spectators waiting in the shadows to watch their match.

"Why are we watching this? We already know how skilled she is!" A female complains, twirling a senbon in her hand angrily. "Yes, why are we watching this match?" The owner of the voice looked to their energetic teammate with short, messy black hair. Mai's brother sighed. "My sister and the Uchiha are at the top of their class, it should be an interesting fight." Mai and Sasuke bowed respectfully to each other and took their stances. "Begin!" Sasuke immediately went into the offensive, sending a punch towards her face. He saw her visibly relax and use the path of his extended arm as an open invitation for a hit. Oh shit. Sasuke thought as Mai grabbed his arm and flipped him onto the ground. The impact only hurt a little bit and now he was pissed. Mai grinned, that was a good warm-up.

"I demand a rematch!" Sasuke demands angrily. "Alrightie then Uchiha." Mai shrugged. This time Sasuke waited for Mai to attack first. Big mistake. She made a big show of her agility by faking in several directions before going in for the kill. Her eyes widened when Sasuke blocked her punch and countered, she jumped back and his fist barely grazed her shirt. Class was already over but the students stayed to watch the fight. "Win Sasuke!" His fan girls cheered. "Kick his ass Mai!" Naruto yelled. Mai frowned, Sasuke's eyes could track her movements but his reaction time was just too slow for her taste. "I was really hoping that this fight could be dragged out longer, you really need to work on your taijutsu." Sasuke threw several punches that Mai easily dodged as once again she got close enough to throw him to the ground. She put her knee on Sasuke's back, noticing him squirm beneath her.

"Woo!" Naruto cheered as Mai took her weight off Sasuke slowly. "She's strong." Ino whispered as Sakura nodded in agreement. Mai held out her hand to the Uchiha, he grudgingly accepted it and stood up. "You're not bad for a kunoichi." Sasuke muttered. Mai's eyes widened; she just got a compliment from an Uchiha! Sasuke smirked when he saw Mai blush slightly while in the background her brother's teammates were trying to stop her older brother from killing him.

The next day when Mai entered the classroom, almost all the boys wanted to talk to her about her spar with Sasuke. "Finally someone put that smug Uchiha in his place!" Kiba fist pumped and howled while Akamaru greeted her with a bark. "So how'd you beat him? You made it look so easy." That comment was the one that triggered Naruto's idiotic brain. "Sasuke isn't so tough; I could beat him with both hands tied behind my back! Believe it!" Naruto brags. "Oh yeah? How about you test that one out?" Kiba teases as the other boy's laughed. "There she is with those boys and yet she dares to put her grubby hands on Uchiha-kun!" Ino scoffs. "There isn't anything that we can do about it now." Sakura frowned when Ino smirked. "You see Sakura-chan, I have the perfect plan." Ino says evilly.

The first phase of the plan was to scare her by setting really dangerous traps. "I don't know about this Ino." Sakura says nervously, covering the pit trap. "It'll work now move it, she's coming!" The two girls waited in the bushes watching intently. "You know Uchiha; you're not as bad as I thought you would be." Mai says. "Hn." Sasuke grunts. "If only you had communication skills." Mai sighed in disappointment, stopping for a moment. No, keep walking! The girls wanted to yell. Sasuke stopped as well but it was too late, he grunted as he hit the ground below. Mai blinked, looking down at Sasuke. "What the hell!" Sasuke yelled. "Did you do something to piss off Kami?" Mai asks. "No I didn't!" Sasuke snapped. "Now get me out of here!" "Alright, calm down." Mai sighed, helping him out of the hole. "No! We got Uchiha-kun dirty!" Ino cried. "I told you this was a bad idea, now look what happened!" Sakura shouted.

"There's no way she'll get that lucky twice in a row." Ino says. Mai looked at Sasuke and noticed that he was slightly limping. "Uchiha-san, are you alright?" Mai asks. "I'm fine." Sasuke grunts. "No you're not, stop acting like a stubborn mule and let me see your foot." Sasuke nodded and leaned against a tree. There was a slight pop as a wasp nest started falling towards Sasuke's head. Mai pulled him forward to avoid the wasps but tripped as she moved back. Suddenly pulled away from the tree Sasuke fell on top of Mai. Their lips met and Mai looked at Sasuke in shock. Ino and Sakura watched angrily from the bushes, his first (female kiss, poor Naruto) kiss was supposed to be theirs! She quickly scurried away from him, one mind numbing thought in her head. That was her first kiss.

On the outside Sasuke looked completely unaffected but on the inside he was semi-panicking. He hated that accidental kiss with Naruto ( A/N: unfortunately that was when NaruSasu was born. *shivers in a corner*) but he didn't know how he felt about this one. He didn't hate it… "There was a wasp nest about to fall on your head." Mai explained shakily. Sasuke winced and tried to get up, falling on his face in the process. Oh great, I probably made his injury worse! Mai mentally punched herself. Briefly forgetting her embarrassment she check Sasuke's ankle against his many protests. It was swollen to the size of a golf ball, not good. "You can't walk like that! I'll take you to your house." Sasuke glared at Mai and growled, she matched it.

In the end Mai had a sulking Uchiha on her back, heading into his clan's old village. When they arrived Mai looked around nervously, the Uchiha weren't exactly known for being very kind to Leaf Village ninja outside their clan. "That's the building that I live in." Sasuke muttered, pointing to the nearest one. Mai set him down on the couch, trying to ignore the mess that greeted her. When she went into the kitchen for ice she opened the door and screamed. There were dirty dishes overflowing from the sink and garbage bags littered the floor. The room smelled of rotting garbage and burning grease. That wasn't the worst part; there were raccoons in the kitchen! "Get out!" Mai yelled, hitting the raccoons out the window with the broom. They all chattered angrily as they flew through the air. Mai dug through the clutter and eventually made her way to the freezer.

When she opened it a dead fish with soulless eyes stared at her as she went to retrieve the ice. She went back to the room she left Sasuke in; it wasn't in much better shape than the kitchen was. "What...The…Hell! How can you even live in this place?" She yells. Sasuke shrugged. "I sleep outside." She stared at Sasuke and wordlessly gave him the ice bag. "I need fire, a trash bag and a place that I won't burn down the house." Sasuke looked at her for a moment. "There's such thing as a trash can?" Mai wanted to punch Sasuke in the head but she didn't want him to be hurt even more. She went into the kitchen with a determined look on her face. Sasuke heard the sound of pans clattering, glass shattering and a poof from a trash bag.

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**Well, what do you think? I needed some way in the story to show that Sasuke isn't perfect. I was laughing my ass off when I wrote how bad the kitchen looked. Rate and Review, it's just a button away...**


	2. Chapter 2

**Me: It's chapter two but I feel so sad! Why?**

**Sasuke: Why the hell did you make Mai watch me? I could have just gone to the hospital, at least I know they won't try to kill me!**

**Mai: *randomly walks into conversation* Who's trying to kill you? I'm only helping you because for some weird reason I feel like it was my fault that you were hurt.**

**Me: *starts crying* I'm such an awful person!**

***They both sweat drop and stare at me***

**Mai: *sigh* Guess I have to do the disclaimer. Snow-hime does not own Naruto but she owns her OC's and plot. Wait a minute, what do you mean you own me? Oh and she also thanks her friend Jennifer-Kitten for reading this. Stop rushing her, you have to wait for new chapters like everyone else!**

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Chapter 2: A Terrifying Past

"Uchiha! Your house wants to kill me." Mai growls, walking back into the room with a scowl. Sasuke smirked. "It's impossible to clean. Believe me, many people have tried." Mai froze. "You invited people over to this dump?" "Only my worst enemies. Oh and ignore the bones in the living room." Mai just stared and stared… Oh my Kami I don't think he's joking! Mai thought nervously to herself. "Well then I hope you don't mind me being here because there's no way you'll be able to survive in this mess." "No." Sasuke glared at her. Why are all the people I know so stubborn? Mai thought angrily. "There's no way that I'm leaving you in this hell hole. Either I'm staying with you or I'll start letting the fan girls bug you in class." Sasuke's face paled, he was actually getting used to his peaceful times without those crazy girls drooling over him.

"You wouldn't." Mai was about to tell him that she would when the door busted open. "Mai!" The usually poised Neji Hyuuga was in the doorway, panting. "Neji-san! What's wrong?" Mai asks worriedly. The Hyuuga and Uchiha had a brief glaring contest with each other then Neji turned to Mai again. "It's your brother again; we need you to calm him down." Mai froze for a minute, then glanced at Sasuke. "Alright, but I need to bring Uchiha-san." Mai says shakily. "What?" "Hell no!" Mai gave them both a murderous glare but she couldn't hide the fear that was evident in her eyes. So there is something that's she's afraid of. Sasuke thought.

When they finally made their way to Mai's house, Rock Lee was on a violent rampage. Ten-ten was trying her best to make sure that he didn't destroy the house. "Big brother, stop this!" Mai yells, tackling her brother. "Let me go!" He yells, obviously in emotional pain. "No! Everything is alright, Dad isn't here! He won't hurt us!" Mai had tears in her eyes, she was sobbing silently. Rock Lee had finally snapped out of his rage when he heard his sister cry. "Mai!" Soon he was the one that was comforting his sister. Rock Lee and his sister were orphans after their father killed their mother and their two younger siblings. It was a miracle that either of them survived at all, the fight between the three lead to both siblings unlocking a kekkai genkai that ran deep in their family. The only difference was since Lee couldn't use ninjutsu that power made him strong in taijutsu while the elements that Mai used were strengthened depending on what emotion she expressed.

"You say anything to the sensei's and your ankle won't be the only thing swollen." Tenten threatens. "I don't even know what's going on!" Sasuke yells. Mai looked up, remembering that Sasuke was there. "Oh yeah, there was something that I actually needed to talk to you about." Mai says as Rock Lee looked at her in confusion. "No, I told you no!" Sasuke yelled. "Maybe you should have thought about that BEFORE your house turned into a dump site!" Mai argued.

Rock Lee stared at his sister, the Uchiha and her somewhat got along? "You see, Uchiha here fell into a pit trap and sprained his ankle. I'm going to keep an eye on him so he doesn't kill himself." Sasuke glared at Mai as she tried to keep a semi-calm expression on her face. "Look I feel guilty enough as it is. If you don't let me help you then I'm going to tear a fan girl's head off." Sasuke looked to Mai, then sighed. "It isn't like you'd listen to me anyways if I did refuse." "What? You know I can't cook!" Mai looked at her brother and sighed. "Order cook out, that's what he's been doing." Mai says, pointing at Sasuke.

As soon as Mai and Sasuke got back to his house, Mai went to clean the kitchen. It took several hours but she finally succeeded. The dishes were drying and neatly stacked, the wooden floor was waxed and actually visible and random animals were not trying to scratch her face off. Yes, life was good. As soon as Mai walked out of the kitchen, however; she was greeted by the clutter in Sasuke's living room. Sasuke was on the couch, pretending to be asleep. "I'm always stuck doing chores no matter where I go! I don't even want to think of the reason why the crutches I found for him had blood." Mai shivered.

She sat down near the couch, feeling completely drained. She looked up at the clock, it said 7:45 but knowing this house it had probably been displaying that same time for a while. She yawned, stretching her arms up. "Well I guess it won't kill me to take a quick nap." Her eyelids felt heavy and she closed her eyes. A few seconds later she was asleep, snoring lightly.

Sasuke got up slowly, not wanting to be yelled at for getting up. He grabbed the crutches and hobbled over to look at the kitchen. It was spotless and everything was neatly in place. "How long was she cleaning?" Sasuke thought aloud. He was about to step inside but apparently he forgot that the wax giving the floor its lovely shine was also slippery. He fell back, hitting the back of his head with enough force to knock him out. They were both asleep for so long they both slept through dinner, breakfast and the academy.

Mai woke up, her stomach growling. She looked down at her watch and froze, she missed school! Why hadn't that stupid Uchiha woken her up? She got her answer when she saw him sleeping on the floor. Aw, he kind of looks cute when he's resting. Mai thought, then got an evil grin on her face. She knew the best way to freak the Uchiha out first thing in the morning. "Sasuke-kun!" She squealed in a fan girl fashion. Sasuke's eyes popped open and he sat up quickly, Mai was doubled over in laughter. "You should have seen the look on your face!" She laughed as Sasuke scowled at her.

"Not funny." Mai's stomach growled and she blushed in embarrassment. "Oh Kami I went to sleep without any food." Mai groaned. "So? Go shopping, isn't that what girls usually do?" Sasuke smirked when he saw her angry reaction. "I hate shopping and since I can't trust you to stay conscious while I'm gone, you're coming with me." Mai says. "Hell no." Mai raised an eyebrow. "We both know how this is going to end. Either you're coming with me or I'm going to beat you over the head with your own crutches." Sasuke mumbled to himself. "Well?" "Hn." "That's what I thought." Mai smirked as she helped Sasuke back to his feet.

When the other kids from the academy saw them, their jaws dropped open. The one thing that everyone thought wasn't possible happened: Mai was willingly hanging out with Sasuke and the emo looked semi-happy! Ino and Sakura looked at Sasuke in shock, he was hurt. "Did we do that?" Sakura whispers, Ino shook her head. "No, that girl Mai probably did it." Ino says, grimacing. Sakura looked at her friend, she was acting crazy! "I'm not helping with the traps anymore." Sakura says quietly. "Fine then, I'll just have Sasuke to myself then!" Ino yelled. Sakura stared at the blonde, was she acting this crazy? No wonder Mai decided she wanted nothing to do with her.

"Hey kids." Hana Inuzuka greeted, her three dogs eyed Sasuke warily. "Hi, I see the Haimaru brothers are here." The three dogs wagged their tails, and were on the floor waiting for a tummy rub in seconds. Kiba stared; his sister's dogs didn't exactly like him. "So, how have you been?" Hana asks. "Eh, I'm on babysitting duty." Mai shrugged. "I already told you that I didn't need any help!" Sasuke yelled. "That's a bunch of bull and you know it. You knocked yourself out by trying to walk into a clean kitchen." Mai says dryly.

Sasuke glared at Mai as Kiba laughed. "I wish I was there to see it!" "Um Hana, can I ask you something?" Mai asks. "Sure, what is it?" Hana asks. "Well since I'm looking after Sasuke, could you tell Iruka sensei that we won't be able to make it to class for a week? I want to make sure that Sasuke can walk properly before we go back." Mai says. "That's a good idea; you don't want him to strain himself." Hana agrees, hearing that from a medic ninja, even if it was for pets, made Mai sigh in relief for making a good decision. "I am not staying in my house for a whole week; there is no way that you can make me!" Sasuke growled as Mai smirked.

"You sure about that? I can make your life a living hell or I can make this a bearable experience. Really doesn't matter to me either way." Mai shrugs. "Just don't get in my way." Sasuke mutters, Mai took that as permission to help him. "Good to see that we've got all that figured out, now I have to get some food." Mai says, walking while Sasuke hobbled after her. "Seeing those two together is going to be very interesting." Hana muttered. She bought so much food that the bags covered the entire length of both arms. "Did you really need to buy that much?" Sasuke asks, Mai sighed. "Yeah but this is only for about maybe half the week. When I cook, I pull out all the stops." Sasuke shrugged and followed her back to the house.

Mai kicked the door open and immediately went into the kitchen to make lunch. Sasuke sat on the couch; it had been awhile since he had eaten something that didn't come from a restaurant or a box. Mai yelled in surprise as she saw that one of the bags that she had was moving! "What the hell?" Sasuke sighed, he was getting used to her outbursts. Inside was a midnight black cat that had fish in its mouth. "How the hell did a cat get in my bags? Out!" The cat looked up at her with sparkly eyes, its fur was messed up and it had a crooked tail. "Fine, keep the fish." Mai muttered as the cat walked into the living room and layed down near Sasuke.

"Do I even want to know?" Sasuke asks. "Probably not." Mai laughed as she starting making sandwiches. "Crazy chick." Sasuke muttered. Mai walked out of the kitchen with a butcher's knife and glared at Sasuke. "Sorry, didn't quite hear what you said. Be glad that you're injured or I would be beating you to a pulp." She says, pointing the knife at Sasuke. He sweat dropped. "Are you used to threatening people with a cooking knife?" Sasuke asks. Mai looked at him in shock, and then looked down to the ground. "Yeah, usually Lee tries to take food before I'm finished preparing it." Mai mutters.

The day seemed to rush by them as they eventually ate dinner and went to sleep. They both fell asleep in the living room but Mai didn't expect to be woken up by Sasuke's tossing and turning. Mai opened her eyes sleepily and was about to hit Sasuke in the head for disrupting her sleep but she was all too familiar with the signs of a nightmare. Sasuke woke up with a scream, sweat running down his face, his eyes dilated with fear. He still thinks that he's in his nightmare. Mai thought sadly as she went to Sasuke and hugged him. He struggled, screaming curse words not even Mai would use. "I'll kill you!" Sasuke yelled into the darkness. "Sasuke…" Mai sighed and tried not to lose her temper. "It was just a dream."

"No, it wasn't!" Mai was shocked to see an emotion other than anger on his face; it was terror and a never ending sadness. Mai could only guess at what it was about, it was probably about his family's massacre a few years ago. "It's alright, the man that did that will be brought to justice soon." Mai says. Sasuke glared at her. "The man that killed my family was my older brother!" He screamed. Mai's blood grew cold and her body began to shake. No, she couldn't do this. She had to be strong, for herself, her brother and the others that she cared about…

_Flashback_

_Mai and Rock Lee were watching their younger siblings Hisoka and Tatsuya as their mother prepared dinner for their family. They didn't have much but they lived a happy life. Tatsuya grabbed one of Mai's fingers with strength that a toddler his age shouldn't have possessed and went to put it in his mouth. Rock Lee smacked his hand away, watching his younger brother's eyes starting to tear up. "That wasn't nice Tatsuya! Apologize to your big sister and give her more respect!" Rock Lee scolds. "Lee, he's only three years old and he's still teething. My finger just happened to be the closest thing to his mouth." Mai protests. "So you wanted him to bite your finger?" Mai sweat dropped. Tatsuya began to cry and Mai sighed, rocking the little boy back and forth. Hisoka looked at them and smiled his little baby smile. She would never forget this moment, the last time that her family was alive and in peace. _

_The door slammed open and a tall man with dark blue hair and orange eyes walked into the house. He glared at Mai and Tatsuya. "Make that thing shut up." Kaito growled, covering his ears. His wife Yuri went to greet her husband who had come back from his last mission. "Kaito is something…" Her words were cut short as Kaito threw a kunai into her throat, making blood splatter everywhere. The children looked at their father and mother in shock. "D-daddy?" Mai's lip trembled, why did he do that? "I hate the bunch of you, only one of you can even use ninjutsu and she's a girl! None of you have inherited my kekkai genkai and I've had enough of this family." His voice was cold and every word was venomous. _

_Before either of the older children could do anything Kaito had killed Tatsuya without blinking an eye. Tatsuya thrashed for a moment then went limp in Mai's arms. "Tatsuya! Tatsuya, wake up!" She cried, trying to shake the corpse awake. She felt a kunai fly past her cheek, making it bleed. "Shut up, why can't you women ever shut up! It isn't enough that you're weak and defenseless but you have to try exploding others brains with your shrieking!" _

_Kaito was ready to throw another kunai when Rock Lee threw one at Kaito's hand, making him shout in pain. His eyes were emotionless as he stared at his father, then he felt the anger build up inside of him. With a scream of rage, he ran over to his father and tried catching him with a scissors kick to the neck. His father easily dodged and punched his son into a wall; Mai heard the sickening sound of a bone crunching. That brought her out of her daze and she glared at Kaito. This couldn't be the same man that tucked her in at night that chased away her nightmares and called her his little Princess. No, this person was the very embodiment of evil in her eyes. "You killed Momma, Tatsuya, and Hisoka, you even hurt big brother!" She yelled as red chakra surrounded her, her eyes burning with intense hatred. _

"I…I…" She stammered. Make them go away, don't remind me of them! Mai silently screamed in her head. Blood, blood everywhere. From her mother, her brothers, herself. They all bled together, bathing the room in dark red. "He… he killed them." Mai whispered, forgetting all about Sasuke. "He did it without hesitation, why Daddy?" Mai sobbed, bringing her knees close to her face. She could never forget, wouldn't forget. The memory of Tatsuya, Hisoka and her mother all lived inside Mai and her brother. She held herself like at any moment she would just shatter into a million pieces. Her nails dug into her shoulder with so much pressure that they went through her shirt and into her arm; the shirt was turning red with blood. Sasuke expected one of those stupid looks of sympathy that people gave him but he wasn't expecting her to have a mental break down.

_Flashback_

"_Well what do you know? One of my stupid children actually inherited my kekkai genkai." Kaito smirked as Mai growled. "You bastard!" Mai yelled, signing for a jutsu. Kaito stared at his daughter in awe for a moment, she hadn't even gone into the academy. Was it possible that she could be a genius like him? "How ironic, I was going to show you this jutsu as a birthday present. Fire style: Fire Phoenix jutsu!" Flames that came out of her mouth were increased by the strange red chakra that surrounded her. _

_Kaito barely dodged the attack and cursed when Rock Lee snuck up on him with a kick to his legs. The chakra that surrounded him was the same as the kind Mai had but he couldn't use ninjutsu. It did, however; increase the strength in his body 10 times its usual strength. "You two think that you can take me? I'm a jonin and you're not even genin yet!" He laughed. "We may not but we just need to survive long enough for my clone to reach someone." Mai smirked. Kaito's eyes widened and he screamed in anger. "You bitch! Die!" Kaito screamed. _

_Kaito had been about to kill both the children after torturing them slowly when he heard a commotion. Several villagers were coming towards the house and he scowled. "You both got lucky. You'd better hope that I never come back to finish the job." Kaito growled, disappearing in a whirlwind of leaves. Tsume and Hana had been the first ones to the house, running towards it after they smelled all the blood. The house looked like a battle zone; there were several bodies on the floor covered with blood. "Oh Kami, no…" Tsume was shaken, who could do something this horrible to the Lee's? Where was Kaito when this happened? She needed answers damn it! Hana swallowed the bile that rose in her throat and went to check for any signs of life. She shook her head sadly; Yuri, Tatsuya, and Hisoka were gone._

_"H-help… us…" Mai called out weakly. Her brother Rock Lee's arm was draped over her shoulder, he was unconscious. He had sustained a major concussion in his brain that would later cause him to break out into fits of rage. His right arm hung limply at his side; there were slashes all over his body. Mai's eye was almost swollen completely shut, quite a few of her fingers were bent at an unnatural angle. She struggled to stand up but even if she did have the energy she still would have fallen down with her dislocated knee caps. There were multiple slash marks across her back and one slash mark went from the front of her neck to her hips. She was stabbed three times in the stomach with a poisoned kunai, and looked like she was about to die at any minute. _

_The Inuzuka's looked at the girl in shock and terror, Tsume ran off to get a medic ninja while trying to hide her tears of sadness. Hana stayed behind to tend to some of their injuries, she was a vet but at that moment it didn't matter. If she didn't do anything this girl and her brother would die before help arrived. "What's your name?" Hana asks, trying to get the girl to stay conscious. Mai stared at her with a blank expression, her mouth automatically answering. "Mai Lee, ma'am." Hana wanted to point out that she didn't look that old but she just couldn't, this scene was just too pitiful. _

_"Who did this to you?" She asks, trying to disinfect the long slash from her shoulder. Mai winced in pain, but didn't scream. She continued to look blankly up at the ceiling. "Father, father did this." Mai says softly. Hana almost dropped the cloth she was using. "What? Why would he do that?" Hana asks angrily, wanting to kill the bastard. "He didn't love us, he never did." Mai says emotionlessly. Hana hugged the girl to her almost forgetting about the life threatening injuries until she heard the girl finally scream in pain. She finally was driven into an unconscious state as her body went limp._

"-ai, Mai!" Sasuke yelled, shaking her. Mai looked into Sasuke's onyx eyes, tears in her eyes. "He killed them Uchiha-san. My father killed my mom, and two brothers without hesitation. He nearly killed me and Rock Lee too but he underestimated me. That's why…" She paused for a moment to breath. "Why I have to be stronger to avenge my family somehow. To use the skills that I inherited from him and eventually lead him to a slow and painful death." Mai says emotionlessly. "We're too similar aren't we? Both of us have skeletons in the closet that want to kill us." Sasuke says, Mai laughed. "You've got that right!" Mai said with a sniffle. Then they both broke down sobbing, crying their hearts out until they couldn't anymore. "You know something Uchiha-san?" Mai asks.

"Sasuke." "Wha-" "Call me Sasuke." Sasuke says as Mai looked at him in confusion. "Okay then Sasuke. Let's make a promise." Mai says. "What is it? It isn't to go to therapy together is it?" Sasuke asks dryly. "No! That no matter where life takes us that we'll help each other avenge our families. We're both stubborn as hell but you have to admit that right now we probably wouldn't be able to take them." Mai says. Sasuke stared at the girl, he never heard anyone actually agree with his need for revenge. "Alright, I promise." Sasuke says hesitantly. "And if you back out of this promise I will beat you up with your own crutches." Mai jokes. "Hey!" "Yeah you're right; I might break them and give you a concussion. Then I'd have to explain to the people in the hospital." Mai grinned as Sasuke sighed in annoyance. Finally the two had fallen asleep.

**What? I needed something to make them bond! Man this was a really depressing chapter, I cried and I was the person that wrote it! Read and Review, and get a tissue while you're at it.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Me: Oh man, I'm gonna die!**

**Sasuke: That's what you get for being too nice, your grandparents basically control your life. **

**Me: They do not!**

**Sasuke: They guilt tripped you into helping make food for about sixty kids for a week that can't even stay still.**

**Me: Isn't like I had anything better to do anyways.**

**Sasuke: Now you just sound lazy.**

**Me: How am I lazy? I was running all over the building for five fucking hours! For that you're the one that has to do the disclaimer. *glares at Sasuke***

**Sasuke: *sigh* Snow-hime does not own Naruto, all she owns is her plot and OC's. Just read the story already, she already has a low enough self-eestem. **

**Me: Hey!**

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Chapter 3: One of the Guys

Mai woke up with a yawn, her brain barely registering her surroundings. It had been a year since her family died and she had locked up her emotions about that night. She felt better being able to cry her tears of sadness, of frustration and know that the person next to her was going through the same thing. She smiled; never in a million years would she have thought that she would be getting along with the Uchiha enough for him to actually give her permission to use his first name. She was brought out of her thoughts as something grabbed her arm and she almost screamed. Sasuke mumbled and latched onto her arm like it was a teddy bear.

Great, the mighty Uchiha is a snuggler. Mai thought sarcastically to herself. What she didn't know was that Sasuke was awake and aware of the awkward position he put her in. Maybe that would teach her to threaten him with a concussion. His smug smile was replaced with a look of horror as Mai yawned again. "Screw this, I'm going back to sleep." Mai muttered. Now he was the one that couldn't move, apparently she was resting her head on his stomach like it was her own personal pillow. The black cat that hitched a ride in Mai's bag looked down at Sasuke in amusement. "Don't even…" It was too late. The cat dangled its tail in front of Sasuke's nose and he sneezed.

Mai shot up in surprise, knocking the evil cat off the couch. It hissed at Mai and she glared angrily at the cat. "Darn fluff ball." Mai muttered, and then she looked at Sasuke. "Awake now?" Sasuke scowled. "You're the one that woke me up by sneezing in my ear; shouldn't I be the one that's upset? You definitely aren't a morning person." Mai only earned herself a glare from Sasuke. She went into the kitchen to start on breakfast while Sasuke sat on the couch and sighed. "Hey, you wanna know some good news? Tomorrow you can just wear a foot brace so that you can walk around." Mai says, trying to get that glare off his face.

She still didn't know why those girls liked a guy that only glared and tried his best to ignore their existence. That brought an almost smile to Sasuke's face but it was ruined when a boy and his dog randomly ran into his kitchen. "Mai-chan! Bacon!" Kiba rushed past Sasuke, tackling Mai. "For the love of all that is good and holy! You almost made me spill hot grease on my clothes!" Mai yelled. How did he even know where she was anyways? Sasuke wondered curiously. "Why are you here anyways?" Mai asks, finally calming down. "My mom and sis wanted me to check on you guys." Kiba says cheerfully, snatching a strip of bacon. He went for a second but got smacked by a spatula.

"Outside, now." Kiba sighed as he had to wait in the living room. "I can't believe that Mai hasn't cleaned up this place yet, my mom said Yuri was a clean freak." Kiba said as Sasuke stared at the Inuzuka. "Your mom knew Mai's family?" Sasuke asks. He still didn't know that much about the Mai's old family but he wouldn't ask, just as she respected him enough not to ask about his brother. "My mom only knew her parents but since their death Mai has become like one of the family. I think I have a picture from last year." Kiba says, looking in his pockets. Yeah, like that gave him an excuse to keep a picture in his pocket like a stalker. It was folded neatly and Kiba handed the picture to Sasuke.

There was a short woman with black hair in a sloppy bun, gazing at the tall man that stood beside her. His hair was the same shade of Mai's and he had eerie orange eyes that seemed to glow. His face smiled but that smile didn't seem to make it all the way to his eyes. His hand rested on Mai's head and she looked so happy with a goofy grin on her face. Gripping onto her leg was a small toddler with dark blue hair and brown eyes, seemingly trying to hide behind her. In her arms was an adorable little baby with black hair and golden eyes, he was reaching up to grab a long strand of Mai's hair. Rock Lee looked like he was trying to scold the toddler.

The picture wasn't anything like the annual pictures that the Uchiha clan took together. Not a smile in the picture, all the people have intent looks of concentration. The Uchiha's weren't known for showing their emotions. In reality Mai probably went through more pain than he ever would. And she was able to get past her emotions in one year? "You guys, break fast is ready!" Mai calls. Kiba ran to the kitchen, nearly knocking Sasuke on his butt. The Uchiha growled and tried beating the dog boy in the head with his crutches. Mai peeked her head outside of the kitchen and saw the two fighting. "Hey! If you get any blood on the carpet, I'll kill you both!" Mai yells.

"Hell with that, it's my house!" Sasuke protests. "I don't care if we were in Hokage-sama's house! I won't let you mess up the house anymore than it already is!" Mai yells, throwing plates at both of their heads. They both ducked but they saw the plates shatter against the wall, and they were plastic! They both walked into the kitchen and immediately forgot about the death threats when they smelled the food. Steak and cheese omelets, bacon, hash browns, toast, orange juice, everything that a person could possibly eat for breakfast was on the table. "I told you that when I cook food I pull out all the stops." Mai says smugly.

After dismissing Kiba from the house after his protesting about sleeping in the same room as an Uchiha, Mai handed Sasuke a scroll. He looked at it for a moment. "What is this?" Sasuke asks. "It's an old scroll that's been passed down in my family; it teaches you how to use the Fire Phoenix jutsu. Study it for a little while; I need to clean the house. You do have fire chakra don't you?" Mai asks. "Well most people in my clan did so it wouldn't be surprising." Sasuke muttered.

"Don't worry, as soon as that ankle gets better you'll be training again and I'll be out of your hair." Mai says, going into a part of the house she never visited before. She opened the door and what she saw stunned her, Sasuke's bedroom looked too bad to even describe. "You better feel extremely grateful for doing this. Every time I walk into a new room I feel like my life is in danger." Mai mutters. She somehow found a way to crawl through the pile of clutter and into the room. "Oh God! Please tell me that's anchovy!" Mai cried, but she wasn't so lucky. It was a long dead pizza with bugs crawling all over it.

After about 8 hours trying to stop Sasuke's clutter from swallowing her like it did the rest of his room, she finally walked out. Her clothes were covered with grease stains, broth stains, and chocolate stains, any food you could have named she was probably wearing. Sasuke looked up at Mai curiously and looked at his room; his floor was white? And it was still white? Mai groaned, sitting at the foot of the couch. "Oh God, everything hurts." "Aren't you going to take a shower or something, you reek." Sasuke says. Mai glared at him, and then sighs.

"I might as well, and that means that you can go to sleep in your own room instead of sleeping on the couch like you usually do. The couch beats having to sleep on the floor, and I still have to clean the living room." Mai mutters, going to her bags to get a towel and a change of clothes. Sasuke blushed slightly; this girl had to be the most complicated person in the village! One minute she wanted to kill him, the next she was helping him by either trying to teach him a new technique or cleaning a room. The least he could have done for her was to order some food to the house; it didn't make any sense to bug a person that's been physically strained to cook dinner for you. That was too heartless, even for him.

Mai showered and tried to convince herself that when she stepped outside that she wouldn't smell like a grocery store exploded on her. She yawned and her eyes widened when she saw that there was actually food. "Thank Kami." Mai yawned, stretching out her arms. "It's just take out." Sasuke mutters. "Yeah I know, but I'm so tired that if I tried cooking something on the stove it would be my face." Mai says. "Whatever." Sasuke muttered. Mai was barely able to make it half way through her meal without falling asleep. Sasuke muttered angrily to himself as he had to drag Mai onto the couch. A polite knock sounded at the Uchiha's door as he finished placing Mai on the couch. "Come in." Sasuke grunted, what was up with all these people visiting his house? Neji walked in looking at the rooms.

Mai wasn't awake so he didn't even try to be polite. "The rooms are filthy." Sasuke shrugged. "Mai said the same thing and she's been trying to clean them." "My purpose for being here isn't a friendly visit. Tell Mai that my team needs her assistance for a mission." Sasuke briefly wondered what the mission was and why they needed someone that wasn't even a genin yet. "And just something to note, it's not chivalrous to let a girl sleep on the couch." Neji says, pointing to Mai. "She was sleeping on the floor before without any problems." Sasuke shrugged, Neji looked at him in annoyance. This guy is hopeless, why is Mai even helping a loser like him? Neji thought to himself. "Make sure to tell her." Neji says, walking out of the house.

The next morning when Mai woke up she couldn't find Sasuke anywhere in the house. For a moment she thought that the pile of junk in his room had reappeared and that it had swallowed up Sasuke. She ended up finding a note stuck on Sasuke's crutches. "Left on a mission with your brother's team. Clean the house or what ever the hell you do while I'm gone." She crumpled the paper and it burst into flames. "I pray to Kami that he'll be forced to clean leaking sewage from one of the rivers." Mai mutters.

"Make the kid stop crying!" Sasuke yells, trying to get himself heard over the five year old. "This was why you were supposed to get Mai; she's the only one that can handle children." Neji says with a scowl. "I like kids but I just don't like all the crying." Tenten cringed. "Takumi you will stop crying right now! Listen to your elders!" Rock Lee shouts. Everyone was wondering how the heck Mai survived with having Lee as a big brother after this.

"What are you people doing to the poor kid? I had to ask at least a dozen people where you went and nearly got killed by seven fan girls." Mai glared at Sasuke evilly. For some unknown reason when Takumi saw Mai he thought she was some sort of guardian angel and started clinging to her leg. "I want my mommy and daddy, these people are meanies!" Takumi sobbed. Mai sighed and picked up the little boy, patting his back. "It's alright big guy, your parents will be home soon. And you don't want them to come home and seeing you so upset do you?" Mai asks softly.

"N-no." Takumi sniffs. Mai placed the boy back on the floor, giving him a warm smile. "How about you find your favorite toys and we can play with them?" Takumi grinned, running into the other room. "You really left a note that told me to 'clean the house or whatever the hell I do'? Can you be anymore sexist? And besides, who kicked your ass in taijutsu?" Mai asks. It was weird and kind of awkward how one minute she could be comforting a child and the next be yelling at Sasuke.

Takumi ran into the room with his arms full of toys, and then he tripped. "Uh oh." Tenten muttered. "Not again." Sasuke groaned. "Wahhh!" Takumi cried. Rock Lee was about to go over to the little boy and tell him to stop crying when Neji stopped him. "This is why we all agreed that your sister should be handling the mission." He says as Mai walked over to Takumi and knelt to his level. "Where does it hurt?" Mai asks. Takumi held out his arm, tears still in his eyes.

"Do you want to know a secret? Girls have a power that whenever they kiss an owie they get all better." She kissed a spot on his arm and the little guy giggled. "Do you feel better now?" Mai asks. "Yes, thank you nice girl!" Takumi giggles, giving Mai a hug. She looked cheerful but at the same time Sasuke noticed that it was just a look, her eyes looked dull when she hugged the little boy. Sasuke remembered that her little brother probably would have been this kid's age if he had survived.

Takumi's parents were confused at why it took five teenagers to watch the little boy but either way team Gai got paid, even though Mai did all the work. "Mommy, can we keep her? She's much nicer than the meanies!" Takumi points at Mai. Mai smiled at the little boy and messed up his head a little. "I have my own house little guy and a person that I have to take care of. But if your parents ever have to go on another mission you can just request Mai." Takumi gave her a hug and started crying, while several people had to pry off the little boy.

Sasuke and Mai were on their way back to the house and she was trying not to laugh at the drawings that Takumi had drawn on his bandages. He wanted to draw on Sasuke and make him pretty. "That's what you get when you take someone else's mission!" Mai laughed as Sasuke glared at her. "At least I didn't run into any…" Sasuke's voice trailed off when he saw the group of fan girls. "Sasuke-kun!" They squealed. Sasuke looked to Mai in panic; she just gave him an amused look. "Oh no Sasuke-kun, I'm not helping you at all. I want more respect and I won't lift a finger unless you start giving me it." Mai says.

Sasuke growled and was about to flip her the bird but the girls were getting closer. "Darn it. What do you want me to do?" Sasuke asks weakly. "Just ask me politely." Mai says. That's all that he had to do? Why didn't she just say that! "Will you please get us out of there so that they don't kill us?" Sasuke asks. Mai nods and lets Sasuke climb onto her back. There were many fan girls but none of them were as fast as Mai, even with an 90 pound guy on her back she still left them in the dust. "When will those idiots ever learn? Maybe if they spent less time chasing you and more time training they could actually catch up!" Mai laughs.

She eventually had to let Sasuke down and she was trying her best to hide her exhaustion. Not only did she clean before she had to bail the guys out of trouble but she also had to run away from a group of fan girls. "How about we just go to Ichiraku's, I don't feel like making anything." Mai says, stretching with a yawn. "Just so you can fall asleep in your food again? Wonder what will happen when it's steaming hot ramen." Sasuke gave her an evil smirk and she scowled. "Keep it up and you'll find scorching hot ramen on your head." She growls, walking through the cloth that acted as a door. "Mai-chan!" Kiba greeted the girl, Naruto sitting right beside him.

"Did we really have to run into these two idiots? Let's just leave." Sasuke tried to walk away but found that he was being rooted to the spot by Mai. "We're going to stay here and eat ramen peacefully or I will tell the guys about the incident." Mai threatens. Sasuke's eyes widened and he nodded obediently. "Hey Kiba, Naruto. Have we missed anything important?" Mai asks. "Well Iruka-sensei did say that we have our genin tests next week." Kiba says thoughtfully. "Oh man, I am so screwed!" Naruto groans. "You're screwed? I haven't been studying at all and Neji-san will kill me if he finds out!" Mai whines.

"What was that you said Mai?" To Mai's horror, Neji was in Ichiraku! I thought that he said he would never step foot in a dump like this! Mai thought. "Hi Neji-san… Help!" Mai screams as she ran out of the ramen shop, Neji calmly chasing after her. "Hey guys I think I just noticed something." Kiba says after the guys stopped hearing Mai's screams. Sasuke really didn't care what the flea bag said but Naruto was listening intently. "What's that?" Naruto asks. "Don't you think that an emotionless Hyuuga wouldn't degrade to chasing after a girl just because she forgets to study? I think that he might like her." Kiba says.

"Someone like Mai, no way." Sasuke scoffs. Kiba and Naruto looked at Sasuke in shock; usually he would have ignored them. "O-oh and why's that Uchiha?" Naruto asks. "Are you trying to say that Mai isn't good enough for a guy?" Kiba asks. "She's too much like a guy. She fights like a boy, talks like a boy, and even dresses like one! Have you seen her ever wear a skirt?" Sasuke asks.

Mai thought that she couldn't have gone through any pain worse than the punishment Neji put her through but apparently she was wrong. "You're right; she basically is one of us. She even hates those fan girls like we do." Naruto agrees. "That's what they think of me is it? I'll show those stupid guys a thing or two." Mai growled, for once shopping for something other than food. She came home late but Sasuke just assumed that she was buying more food with all those bags that she had.

The next morning Sasuke was in for a big shock. He was in his room and automatically woke up to the smell of bacon in the kitchen. He saw the back of a girl that was wearing tan ninja heels, and a dark green dress that had ivy designs on the side and was slitted at the bottom near her knee caps. "Who the hell are you and what are you doing in my house?" Sasuke demands. Mai turned around and gave Sasuke a sweet smile. "Why Sasuke-kun, what does it look like I'm doing? I'm cooking breakfast." Mai says innocently, trying not to smirk at the look on his face. She had a faint trace of blush on her face and mascara that made her dark green eyes pop out even more. Suddenly Sasuke found himself wishing that the guys never brought Mai's being a girl into question.

Mai walked through the streets and almost no one recognized her. She had been in her training clothes that were baggy and black for so long that people really didn't know what she looked like. "Now for the test drive." Mai thought, watching Ino walk out of her mother's flower shop. She skipped over to Ino and smiled sweetly. "Hi!" She says cheerfully. "Um hi, do I know you?" Ino asks, she did look kind of familiar. "Yeah you don't know who I am even though you've threatened me many times?" Mai pouted as Ino tried to place this girl's face with a personality. The only person that she knew with dark blue hair that she despised was Mai, but there was no way she could be her! "Um, you wouldn't mind shopping with me would you?" Mai barely got the sentence out as Ino squealed. "Yes!"

Mai was having problems walking in the ninja high heels and they were scraping her ankles but she didn't complain. So if I threw away my independent nature I would have had a life that was this easy? Ino ended up meeting with the other fan girls and Mai eventually found out that not all of them were obsessed like Ino and Sakura were. "To tell the truth we just want him to notice us, even if that means that he runs away from us." Asami admitted. "I just follow what the others do because the way he reacts is really funny." Chieko chuckles, Mai could tell that they would get along just fine.

"Uchiha tell me again why we're spying on your fan girls again. And how were you able to drag the Hyuuga with us?" Kiba asks. "I told him that if he followed me that he would get to see Mai dress like a girl." Sasuke says, Naruto laughed. "Yeah, fat chance of that ever happening!" Naruto laughed. Mai was laughing at exactly the same time, maybe being a girl wasn't so bad after all. If it wasn't for her need to get stronger she might actually enjoy it! "So, who do you like?" Asami asks. Mai just stared at them blankly, did she like any of the ninja in the village?

For some reason two people stuck out in her head, Neji and Sasuke. What the hell? Those two are the most emotionless people in the village! I can't possibly like them! Mai scoffed to herself. "W-well I do think that Neji is sort of cute." Chieko grinned. "I knew that you looked the type to go after older guys but I heard that he won't go with a girl unless they're really pretty and a training buff. Sounds like he's trying to find a super kunoichi!" Chieko laughs.

Mai laughed along with the girls but then the wheels in her head started turning. Was that why he trained her so hard? Was it because he liked her? The girl that overshadowed even Tenten in the tom boy department? Sasuke finally grabbed Neji's arm as the Hyuuga snatched his arm back, as if Sasuke's touch burned him. "Don't you ever do that again." Neji growls. "I thought that you wanted to see Mai look like a girl." Sasuke taunts, and then tapped on the shoulder of a girl with dark blue hair pinned up in a small ponytail.

"Yes?" Mai asks, turning around. Her face paled then it colored pink as she looked at Neji. "N-Neji. What're you doing here?" Mai asks. Chieko looked at Neji for a moment, and then sighed. "You definitely have great taste Mai. Just look at that…" "Chieko!" Mai started shaking her new friend who was starting to laugh maniacally. If anything Mai just started blushing even more. "Oh come on Mai, it's really cute." Asami says. "Oh yeah did either of you notice Sasuke-kun?" Mai asks sweetly. Asami and Chieko got into their act fast. "Sasuke-kun!" They squealed. Mai laughed as she saw Sasuke try to run away from the girls. "That will teach him for making fun of me." Mai mutters. "This was all because you let something Uchiha said get to you?" Neji asks. Mai nodded, waiting for the eventual lecture she would receive from him. "I would say that it's dumb to do but maybe it's a good thing that you're a tom boy." Neji says.

Mai looked disappointed when Neji said this. "I don't look good in a dress do I?" Neji shook his head. "If you looked like this, you could easily have your own fan club chasing you around." Neji says. Mai blushed. "Do I look that good?" Mai asks. "You always look good." Neji says. Mai's blush got even darker and then she did something that was uncharacteristic of her, she fainted.

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**Another chapter down and I have to type the others too, life sure ain't fair is it? Review please!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Me: I'm bored and getting tired of talking about Sasuke, but it'll lead up to something eventually...**

**Sasuke: You actually know what you're writting in the future? Next thing you know the dobe will actually grow a brain.**

**Me: Oh yeah, I just got a restraining order against Deidara~**

**Mai and Sasuke: O.O" Do we even want to know?**

**Me: *spots Sasori and does a fangirl squeal* Sasori-kun!**

**Deidara: You stay away from my Danna! Katsu!**

**Me: *hits Deidara with a frying pan, which is oddly affective* Sasori-kun~ Do the disclaimer please~**

**Sasori: Hn, Snow-hime does not own Naruto. Some of the information in further chapters may differ from the anime and manga. Now let me go before I turn you into a puppet.**

**Me: Aw, that's just your way of showing people that you love them!**

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Chapter 4: Fangirls Aren't Always what they Seem

Mai woke up with a groan and saw that she was inside the Hyuuga compound. What the hell? I thought that you had to get a clearance in order to get in this place. Mai thought to herself. She heard two male voices arguing; one was Neji the other she didn't recognize. "There is no way that the clan would ever approve of her!" Hiashi sighs, trying to get the idea through the boy's thick skull. Usually he was obedient but apparently he really cared about this 'Mai' girl. "She's different from other kunoichi, I've trained with her. She isn't weak and she's talented. Why do you even care, I'm not part of the main branch." Neji protests. "I care because I do not want you to have a weakness such as a girl that others can use to their advantage." Hiashi says.

Mai finally had enough and changed into some regular clothes which thankfully were a hoodie and sweat pants. She busted down the door and glared at the head of the Hyuuga clan. "I really don't appreciate when others talk about me without being present. So you think that I'm weak?" Mai asks. She wanted to punch this man but doing that would be more disrespectful than what she already did. "I will deem you worthy, if you can defeat Hanabi." Mai looked at Neji in confusion. "One of my younger cousins." Neji explains.

The next thing Mai knew she was on the Hyuuga training ground and a girl that looked about fives years younger than her from the other end of the grounds. Wow, all the Hyuuga are just pieces of art. Mai thought sarcastically, and then she became vaguely aware that she was fighting to be accepted into the Hyuuga and she didn't even like most of them! Why did she do it? She wanted to show Neji how much his training had actually helped her and to prove his uncle wrong and that she wasn't weak. "4 trigrams!" The little girl yelled, going for Mai's chest. She dodged, hitting a major chakra line in her shoulder.

Hanabi looked at the girl in shock; there was no way she would accept that someone outside of their clan could be better than her. The fight became more personal, Hanabi wanted to show her father her strength while Mai wanted to take that smug look off Hiashi's face. "Earth style: Rock Slab!" If Mai was surprised that Hanabi had an elemental jutsu then she didn't let it show. "Fire style: Heat missile!" A ball of flame came out from her palm and it smashed through the rock and into Hanabi. She screamed as she briefly felt the flames licking at her arms. "I concede." Hanabi gasps. Mai reached over to give Hanabi a hand up but she received a fierce glare. Mai had unknowingly made an enemy that day.

Neji looked at his uncle with a smirk, he felt a slight pain in his forehead but he didn't care. "I admit that I am impressed with your skill Mai and I give my consent for Neji to court you." Mai looked at him with widened eyes. Did he just say what she thought that he did? That he was giving Neji permission to date her? She thought that Neji was just arguing to show his uncle that she wasn't weak! For once she was at a loss for words as Neji lead her away from the training ground and his uncle. Eventually they found a bench and Mai plopped down on it.

"Mai, are you alright?" Neji asks, seeming genuinely concerned. "Just give me a minute; I have a lot to process." Mai mutters, rubbing her temple. "So what you and your uncle were arguing about was whether or not you could get permission to date me?" Mai asks. "Why do you think that I trained you so hard? My uncle would never approve of me dating someone that couldn't be considered an equal. Even though Hanabi isn't the heir to the main branch she's the stronger of the two sisters. Hinata is weak." Neji says.

"So, that means that you like me?" Mai asks. "Mai, we just went over that." Neji says. "Sorry it just doesn't feel real to me for some reason. I would have always pictured you with Tenten." Instead of answering Mai he placed a kiss on her lips. Mai felt like her feet were touching the clouds, it was different than her first kiss. It was sweet and soft, unlike when Sasuke fell on her and she almost swore that he purposely tried to chip a tooth. "Mai, will you go out with me?" Neji asks.

Mai gave him a smile that took his breath away, but what did she ever do that didn't take his breath away? "Why yes, I would love to." Neji lead her back to Sasuke's house, she still had to watch him for two more days before she could go back to the academy. "Are you sure that you don't want a medical ninja to take care of him? It seems very troublesome for you to do this over something that wasn't even your fault." Neji says. "I know, but it will only be for a while longer. Then I can go back to training with you guys again." Mai says, opening the door. The first thing that she saw was that there were three guys in the Uchiha house, all trying their hardest to not burn the food. "Hey guys! Did I miss anything?" Mai asks.

Kiba was the first one that ran over to Mai. "Mai-chan, none of us can cook! We couldn't find you anywhere and so we figured that we were on our own." "Yeah! Sasuke actually burned instant ramen because he thought he was too good to look at the instructions!" Naruto yells, and then Mai heard a choking noise in the kitchen. "You take that back you loser!" Mai sweat dropped. "Alright I admit that it gets on my nerves but things around the Uchiha are never boring." Mai says. "Alright but I have to tell you that the team is going on a mission for the next few days." Neji says.

"Then that means that the next time that we see each other we'll both be genin." Mai says happily. Neji nodded then kissed her on the cheek. "I'll see you later." Mai nodded, blushing the whole time. Neji closed the door behind him and then Kiba and Naruto started hounding him. "Are you two an item now?" Naruto asks. "I guess." Mai mumbled. "Ha! I was right!" Kiba shouts. "Huh?" Mai only heard part of their conversation so she really didn't notice what actually started it. "Never mind, save the food before Sasuke kills it!" Naruto begs. Mai chuckled and went to see what she could salvage at the failed attempt at dinner.

That night Mai went to sleep soundly while Sasuke saw that he was having problems. Ever since he had started sleeping in his own room he felt like there was something missing. Did he actually enjoy Mai using him as a pillow? He stepped out of his room in the middle of the night and sighed, maybe a glass of water would help him sleep. When Sasuke had tried walking across the living room he utterly failed and he ended up hitting his foot against a box. Mai opened her eyes sleepily, somewhat staring at the Uchiha. "Did you have that nightmare again?" Mai asks.

Sasuke was about to laugh at her for even suggesting something like that but if he actually told her the real reason why she would laugh in his face. "Unfortunately." Sasuke says. Mai sat up, trying to smooth down her bed head. "It's alright, if you need me to stay with you that's fine." She yawned, walking into his room. Sasuke looked at Mai for a moment; she really didn't see anything weird about this? He shrugged and was the first one to go to sleep and Mai soon followed. Neither of them had any problems falling back to sleep.

Mai woke up to find that she and Sasuke were actually snuggling each other in their sleep. She was getting ready to slap him when she remembered the reason that he wanted her with him. He had another dark reminder of his past and she needed to try her best to support him. The only bad thing about this was that she couldn't move until he woke up and that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. "Only one more day after this and he'll be able to take off the leg brace." Mai thought aloud. Then she would be returning home to her empty house.

That was a depressing thought. At least the good thing was that once she became a genin she would be able to go out on missions and now have to wait around the house. It was then that Mai started thinking about some jutsu's that she could start working on that her father had collected. He may have been cold hearted enough to kill her family but not learning from his knowledge would be plain stupid. She would have to know her father's moves inside and out, especially if she wanted to help Sasuke defeat his brother and kill her father.

When Sasuke moved slightly he pulled her out of her thought and Mai pushed Sasuke off the bed. He landed on the floor with a thud and growled. "Blah blah, your needs." Mai muttered. Her feet touched the plush carpet as she stood up, then she remembered what she was wearing. It wasn't that she wore anything suggestive she was wearing a tank top and some shorts. The problem was that for once that she wasn't wearing any of her wrappings. She really wasn't thinking when she ended up follow Sasuke into his room. Sasuke got up slowly, rubbing the back of his head in pain.

His eyes widened as he finally saw the reason why Mai woke wrappings on her arms and legs. There were multiple slashes everywhere; most of them were scars while others looked more recent. Mai looked at Sasuke and saw that he was staring at her. She shrieked and wrapped a blanket around herself, covering up the scars that were showing.

Mai tried to compose herself but Sasuke had seen her scars. The thing was that not all of them were from her fight with Kaito; there were some from training herself almost to the point where she couldn't move anymore. She took a quick shower and changed into a black T-shirt and a pair of shorts. Her arms and legs were once again covered with wrappings and her hair was in a short ponytail. She went into the kitchen getting breakfast ready.

"Well Sasuke-san, one more day and you'll be back to training again." Mai says, not even having to turn her back to know that he was there. "Mai, why are you helping me so much?" Sasuke asks, Mai thought for a moment and sighed. "Well Sasuke I'm not the type of person that can ignore other's feelings, even if the person themselves doesn't acknowledge them." She admits. Mai knew that she was just one big softie but she had a reputation to uphold. Sasuke shrugged but he wondered if he was just another charity case.

Later Mai and Sasuke had to go out for more food; they ran straight into Sasuke's biggest fans. "Sasuke-kun!" Ino smiled brightly, and then scowled at Mai. "I knew there was something off about that girl that I went shopping with." Ino growled. "Hey, don't get mad at me. Wasn't my fault that you didn't recognize me and I thought that we were bonding!" Mai pouted. Please Kami, let someone interrupt this conversation! Mai begged as she saw that Ino looked ready to strangle her, even if it was in front of Sasuke.

Asami and Chieko walked around the corner, both of them laughing like lunatics. Asami was the first to run over and glomp her new friend, Mai was trying to keep the bubbly girl from breaking anything. Asami looked at Mai and giggled, her dark violet eyes meeting Mai's green ones. "Oh my Kami Mai! We heard that he asked you out!" Asami squealed. IN HER EAR. Mai tried to with hold her scowl and instead patted Asami awkwardly on her back and blushed. She seemed to be doing that a lot lately. "Yeah but he had to go on a mission afterwards." Mai sighs.

"Hold on, someone's actually going out with you? Willingly?" Ino asks. "Yes I am, now stop thinking that I'm trying to steal Sasuke you psycho!" Asami sweat dropped and Chieko laughed. "Who are you dating?" Sakura asks. Mai thought that hell froze over, Sakura actually talked to her! "Neji." Mai answered softly, Ino laughed. "Good luck with dating an emotionless robot!" Mai growled. "Don't ever talk about Neji like that." Mai warned. "At least having an emotionless robot is better than chasing after an emo." Chieko says.

"But it is funny to see him panic when you squeal his name." Asami giggled. Ino and Sakura glared at Chieko and Mai. Asami was just caught in the middle, a confused look on her face and still hugging Mai. "Hn." All the girls looked around and saw a very pissed off Uchiha. "Oh no, just when I thought I got him out of that habit." Mai muttered. "Weren't we supposed to be getting food?" Sasuke asks, trying to with hold his urge to beat all the morons up. "Oh yeah. Asami, Chieko; you want to come with us?" Mai asks.

"Sure, I'm pretty sure that a kunoichi doesn't want her butt to be kicked by a civilian." Chieko says, cracking her knuckles. Chieko was very tall and her limbs were muscular due to helping out in the shop. She had long brown hair and light gray eyes. Asami on the other hand was like her opposite. She had short platinum blonde hair and dark violet eyes, her body was tiny. "Um Chieko? I'm a kunoichi too." Mai says. "You're okay, they're morons."

Asami eventually pried herself off of Mai and dragged Chieko away, which was a great accomplishment considering she was fifty pounds lighter than she was. "That evil Sasuke stealer is still at it, even when she has her own guy!" Ino shrieked angrily. "I really don't think that she's interested in him." Sakura comments but Ino was already starting to rant. "She's gonna pay once she gets to school!" Sakura sighed; this wasn't going to end well for anyone.

On the other side of the village Mai sighed as well. They literally had to drag Asami away from the candy aisle. "I want some pocki, I want candy!" Asami cries. "Don't let her; she goes crazy when she has sugar!" Chieko yells. "Can I watch?" Sasuke asks. "Do you want to pay for the damages?" Chieko demands. Mai smirked as Sasuke started to scowl. "The rope?" Mai asks, Sasuke nodded. Usually they had to tie Naruto up so that he wouldn't force them into eating at Ichiraku. They quickly tied Asami up and she was complaining that they were both meanies.

Finally they bought the food and Asami was calm enough to be untied. "So you both aren't fan girls." Sasuke comments. "It isn't that you're not cute it's just…" "You're so boring and gloomy! What kinda girl would want a guy like that?" Asami complains, placing her head on Mai's shoulder as they walked. "Um Asami, have you noticed that we've been getting glares from EVERY FRIGGIN FANGIRL IN KONOHA?" Chieko yells. "They were? Oh well, their problem." Asami shrugs. Mai sighed and Chieko face palmed. "If you're what guys go for I'd rather be me." Chieko groans as Asami giggled.

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**Well, there's chapter 4 and I think that I'm starting to get way too many ideas for this now. Read and Review, you know you want to. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Me: Chapter 5, yay!**

**Sasuke: Shut up, I don't feel like watching you make an idiot of yourself again...**

**Me: You're just mad that you aren't as hot as anyone in the Akatsuki. XD**

**Sasuke: ... Are you retarded?**

**Me: Nope, just have a one track mind. But you kinda derailed it... now it crashed into a train station, killing five dozen people... Murderer!**

**Naruto: *sweat drops* Everyone reading this should know that she's on caffine, she acts crazy when she drinks the stuff. She's had it for 5 days straight. **

**Me: You with the face! *points at Sasuke* Do the disclaimer!**

**Sasuke: *eye twitch* Snow-hime does not nor will she ever own Naruto. There will be differences in this and the anime/manga. So don't throw a bitch fit. **

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Chapter 5: All Because of Him...

Finally after what seemed like forever, even though it was only a week, Sasuke's ankle finally healed. By that time Mai was forcing Sasuke to clean his whole house, which included Sasuke nearly falling off a ladder to give an annoying clock new batteries. "Come on Sasuke, are you telling me that I'm better than you at cleaning?" Mai taunts. She could read Sasuke like a book, any second his competitive drive would kick in.

Mai just sat on the couch, watching him with an amused expression. She couldn't believe how easy it was to control him. Since Sasuke didn't officially need her anymore Mai didn't need to be at his house, but who would go back to an empty house when there's an Uchiha to torture? "Hey Sasuke, wanna spar?" Mai asks, Sasuke nearly fell off the ladder. "What type of spar? It isn't one with just taijutsu is it?" Sasuke asks warily. "No, just a no holds fight, anything goes." Mai says with a smirk.

They both went to the training ground in back of Sasuke's house. It was littered with training equipment. "Everything here looks like it's on the verge of falling apart." Mai sweat drops. Sasuke ignored the comment and cleared the training ground. Mai took a defensive stance, waiting for Sasuke to attack first. When Mai saw his hand signs she knew that she had to move, fast.

"Fire style: Fire ball jutsu!" She barely dodged the flames coming out of his mouth. Maybe this fight won't be so bad after all. Mai thought with a smirk. Sasuke followed up on his jutsu and threw several shuriken at Mai's retreating figure. She stuck her tongue out and a cloud of smoke appeared, replacing herself with a fallen tree.

She quickly signed for a clone jutsu, maybe if she was lucky he would actually fall for it. "There's a flaw in that technique Mai, you're the only one with a shadow." Sasuke smirks, punching the original in the gut. He quickly retreated, he knew that if this turned into close combat that she would definitely win. Mai recovered quickly, rushing towards Sasuke.

Sasuke threw more shuriken but Mai deflected them with her kunai. "Get ready to say good night." Mai says, pulling back her fist to punch Sasuke in the face. "Sasuke-kun!" They both froze, starting at the sources of the noise in horror. "Oh shit." Mai and Sasuke curse in unison. "Postponement of fight for illegal fan girl interference?" Mai jokes. Sasuke nodded and they both ran.

They both stopped at Ichiraku to celebrate their escape from the fan girls. "Whoever invented ramen is a genius!" Naruto yells, already on his fifth bowl. "Why do I even bother?" Kiba mutters, and then spots Mai. "Hey Mai!" Kiba calls cheerfully. "Hey Kiba, Naruto." She glanced at Sasuke and punched him in the shoulder.

"Sasuke! Stop glaring at them like you'll murder them in their sleep!" Mai yells. "Don't you tell me what to do!" Sasuke shouts. "Maybe if you had a little common sense I wouldn't have to!" Mai retorts. Kiba sighed and Naruto looked at the two in confusion. "Is this how me and Sasuke act?" Naruto asks, Kiba shook his head. "This is twice as bad as your arguments." Kiba says.

"Well who said that I had to help you when you got hurt?" Mai asks. "You did! You threatened to kill me if I didn't let you!" Sasuke shouts. Electricity sparked between their eyes, flames in the background. "Well fine then Mr. Emo, you can take care of yourself because you're not getting any help from me!" Mai yells, storming out of the booth. "Man Uchiha, I knew that you were an asshole but I didn't think you'd do anything stupid like that." Kiba says. "I don't need her!" Sasuke snaps. "Wasn't she the one keeping your fan girls away?" Naruto asks, Sasuke's face paled. "Oh shit."

Mai, on the other hand, was training in her yard. She had already destroyed three innocent trees. "Darn you Uchiha! Would it kill you to say a simple thank you?" Mai yells. She knew that Sasuke probably thought she was mothering him too much but the thing was that his mother was dead. There wasn't anyone in his family alive to take that job. "I'm starting to run out of things to destroy." Mai mutters. "Then I guess I have perfect timing." She dodged a kunai in surprise.

"Who are you and why do you want to kill me?" Mai asks, looking at a teenager that barely looked a year older than she was. He had chin length hair that curved in towards his face with short bangs and frosty blue eyes. He wore a black jumpsuit and the parts of his body that weren't covered with fabric were wrapped in bandages.

"Tell me where Kaito Lee is." Ayame growls. Mai looked at him with a bored expression. "If I knew where he was I would tell you but I don't. Besides, the person to kill him will be me." Mai says lazily. Another kunai went just past her shoulder, pinned into a tree behind her. Her bored expression never wavered as Ayame growled. "I know that you're his daughter, just tell me where he is and I'll leave you alone." Mai sighed; he thought that she was lying.

"Listen to the words coming out of my mouth; I have no clue where he is." Ayame threw another kunai but this time Mai dodged the attack and rushed at Ayame. Her plan was to push him into the trees and pin him so she could pick him off. "Nice try but you wouldn't trap me so easily. Water style: Cyclone jutsu!" Mai yelped, not expecting an A-rank jutsu at point blank range. "Earth style: Rock barrier!" The ground rose up in front of her but it wasn't enough. The water went over the wall, crashing down on Mai.

She swallowed several mouthfuls of water and struggled to swim to the surface of the water, slightly dazed. She was pulled out of the water and she felt like she was about to cough out a lung. "Tell me where Kaito is." Ayame demands. Mai couldn't believe how stupid this guy was; she told him repeatedly that she didn't know where he was.

"I told you that I don't know, you aren't the only one that wants to kill him." Mai says before going unconscious. Ayame shook her angrily. "Wake up!" When that didn't work he threw Mai to the ground to see if she was truly unconscious. She hit the ground with a thud, she groaned in pain but still didn't open her eyes. Ayame sighed and looked down at the girl, his hands glowing with chakra as he forced himself into her memories.

What greeted him was shocking, and he thought that the man known as Kaito Lee was cruel but this was on another level. He was insane. As soon as he left her memories he felt guilty for attacking maybe one of the few people that had dealt with Kaito Lee and lived to tell the tale. "We'll meet again, for as long as we have the same enemy we will. And I am not an idiot." Ayame says as he disappeared.

When Sasuke left to find Mai he was surprised to find her house totally destroyed. The ground was soaking wet but there wasn't a cloud in the sky. He quickly ran to her backyard, spotting her unconscious on the ground. "I leave you alone for three minutes and you nearly kill yourself, why am I not surprised?" Sasuke mutters, picking her up bridal style.

Mai opened her eyes, catching a brief glimpse of black hair. Sasuke? I thought he was still mad at me. Mai thought in confusion. She started squirming in his arms and Sasuke looked down at her. "Go back to sleep and stop moving, you look like a drowned rat." "Don't tell me what to do." She says, having a coughing fit soon afterwards. "Stop being stubborn and go to sleep."

Mai glared at him but her eyelids were starting to feel heavy. "Don't think that this means that I'll start listening to you all the time, I just decided to take a nap." Mai yawns. Sasuke dropped her off at the Konoha hospital who declared that she had a clean bill of health but suggested that she not go swimming anytime soon. She was kept for overnight observation.

The next day Sasuke and Mai were finally able to go to the academy again. Mai was sitting next to Sasuke and getting tired of the way Ino assaulted her ears just with the sound of her voice. Mai was hoping to study before the big test that determined who became genin but apparently Kami loved screwing with her life. "Don't think that you can move in on Sasuke just because your robot isn't here." Ino growls.

"Oh, you mean don't act as shallow as you? I'll take that advice, and Neji is not a robot!" Mai yells. "Oh Kami, another chick fight. So troublesome." Shikamaru mutters. "Everyone be quiet and go back to your seats!" Iruka yells. Ino and Mai were still glaring daggers at each other. "Mai, you'll be the first to go to the examination room since you're so energetic." Iruka snaps. Ino smirked as Mai muttered to herself, giving Ino "the bird" as she walked to the examination room.

She saw that the real Iruka and Mizuki were in the room waiting for her. "You only need to show us your clone and transformation jutsu." Mizuki says as Mai shuddered. Mizuki had to be one of the creepiest people she had ever met, that and he scared her. He reminded her of her father and he had a cold air around him.

Of course everyone else just adored having him as teacher because he went easier on the students than Iruka did. Mai's clone jutsu was successful, and she let out a breath of relief. That was one of the hardest jutsu for her to learn because she wasn't used to using such small amounts of chakra. Naruto had the same problem that was why his clones looked like they were all dead. After that she was confident that she would pass. "Transform!"

A cloud of smoke appeared and her instructors coughed. When it cleared she looked exactly like Sasuke and smirked. "Is this enough or do you want me to act like him too?" Mai asks, thinking how weird it was that she sounded like him. Iruka handed her a headband and growled in irritation. "Just go back to class Mai."

"Interesting." Mizuki mutters. Mai walked out of the room with a goofy grin, spinning something metal around her finger. "I believe this allows me to legally kill anyone I find annoying. Care to test that out Ino?" Mai asks, tying the headband around her neck. Ino glared at her but said nothing. "Aw, that isn't fair sensei! Why does she get to be a genin first?" Naruto whines. "Naruto she had earned her genin status, now be quiet and wait for your turn like the others." Iruka snaps.

About three fourths of the class passed the exam, but Naruto wasn't one of them. He sat down on a swing, looking dejectedly at the ground. Mai walked over to him, not being able to take his unnaturally sad attitude. She had passed but unlike most of her classmates she didn't have parents to congratulate her. "Naruto? Are you alright?" Mai asks softly. Naruto looked at her in shock when he realized that she wasn't acting like herself, that she was being nice.

"I failed, again." Naruto says, tears falling down his cheeks. Mai looked at him sadly. "I know, I was scared that I would fail. I can try to teach you some pointers on the clone jutsu if you want." Mai suggests. "Ha! Looks like the demon didn't pass; I don't know why the adults are so scared. He looks like a weak scrawny kid!" A voice laughed. "Hey, doesn't he have…" "No! We're not allowed to talk about it." A girl whispers.

Mai saw that this talk was getting Naruto even more depressed and she was starting to get pissed off. He already had enough problems; he didn't need these stupid civilians making his mood worse. "Stop talking about Naruto like that, do you even realize that he's human?" Mai asks angrily, tightening her fists. "The daughter of a monster would say that wouldn't she?" Another civilian sneered as Mai flinched in surprise.

This was the first time that someone had made it painfully clear that she wasn't liked. Bringing up her past was a low blow and she growled, she wanted to tear the person's head off. "Mai, you shouldn't be around me." Naruto says as Mai shook her head. "They don't matter to me, especially when they don't know my full story. If you need me I'll be taking my anger out in the forest." Mai says, running away. What she didn't realize was that she was starting to cry.

"Mai! Look at this! Mizuki-sensei said that if I master one of the jutsu's in this scroll that I would be able to become a genin!" Naruto says with a grin. Mai looked at it and her eyes widened. That wasn't just any scroll, that scroll contained all the forbidden techniques of their village! Should she be a model citizen and tell him to return the scroll or take this rare opportunity to strengthen her arsenal of jutsu? Mai decided to look at the scroll with Naruto and helped him master this jutsu called "Shadow Clone jutsu."

They found that it was easier for them to do but it made them tired because it would evenly divide the amount of chakra instead of using just a small amount. "This is so awesome! This totally gets rid of the flaws that the clone jutsu has!" Mai says excitedly. As she saw all their clones had shadows and could act independently, which means that her trick might work in her next training session with Sasuke.

"Naruto, Mai! What do you think you're doing?" Iruka yells, Mai cursed inwardly. Shot, I only had enough time to memorize one other jutsu. She thought sadly. "Mizuki-sensei said that if I took the scroll that I could become a genin!" Naruto says happily, a huge grin on his face. "You idiot, that scroll is forbidden! And you Mai, why didn't you inform the council of this when you found out?" Iruka asks angrily. "I was helping him train Iruka-sensei, we didn't mean any harm." Mai says calmly.

There was a wind shuriken thrown at Naruto and Mai was too shocked to move. "Naruto!" Iruka shielded his student with his back, wincing in pain. "Naruto Uzumaki, it's quite sad that things have come to this. And Mai Lee, you were considered as one of the best students in the academy, too bad I had to kill you after you tried selling the scroll to the rogue ninja." Mizuki says, his voice dripping with fake sweetness.

"What are you talking about? Naruto and I would never do that!" Mai yelled. "Don't you see Iruka, they're both mad. Furious at the way that they've been treated by the village, the demon boy wants revenge and the girl will do anything to get revenge for her family." Mizuki says. Naruto protested but Mai stayed quiet. If I could kill my father but betray my village in the process, would I do it? Mai wonders. She shook her head, she would think about that later. Right now they had bigger problems.

"Naruto, Mai, run!" Iruka yells. Naruto and Mai looked at their sensei hesitantly. "Naruto…" Mai looked at Naruto; he looked about ready to bolt. "No Naruto, don't you want to know why the villagers call you a demon?" Mizuki asks. Naruto froze and Mai growled at Mizuki. "Stop confusing him, it doesn't matter why he's called that. He's my friend!"

Mizuki continued to talk, completely ignoring Mai. "There's a law that tells us not to talk of an event that happened 12 years ago." "Mizuki, don't." Iruka begs as his former colleague smirked down at him. "What happened 12 years ago? Wasn't that when the nine tailed fox attacked?" Naruto asks in confusion. "Yes and you're that demon." Mai and Naruto flinched as they heard Mizuki say that. Naruto ran, leaving the others behind. "Naruto, stop!" Mai yells, running after Naruto.

~ Time skip~

Mai sighed as she thought back to the way Naruto had kicked Mizuki's ass, it was pretty funny. His screams were so girly Mai thought that she was more masculine than he was. She had spend the whole time in her room, or at least what was left of it. Mizuki had revealed to Naruto that her father killed her family and the look that she received from Naruto scared her.

It wasn't like she was the one to anything wrong, she didn't judge Naruto when she found out that he was the vessel for the demon fox that attacked their village. The only people that knew everything and didn't hate her could be counted on one hand, maybe two if she was lucky. "I hate it; I hope that bastard rots in jail. Then in hell." Mai growls.

The next day Mai wasn't surprised to see Naruto in the class along with the others that passed the test. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying all night but she used a genjutsu to hide it from those in her class. She couldn't get a second of sleep so she was cranky, which was never a good thing since there were people in the class that got under her skin. Naruto took a brief glance at Mai and turned away with a guilty look on his face.

"Today I'll be assigning teams." Iruka says. "There's no way that I'm going to team up with two idiots." Mai growls. Sasuke sighed; he knew that there was going to be a fangirl on his team. Apparently to "balance" the teams. "Team 7 will be composed of Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Sasuke Uchiha and Mai Lee." Sasuke was mentally hitting his head against the table while Mai was doing so in reality.

"Kami you really, really hate me don't you?" Mai mutters as she sat next to her teammates. "Mai, why do you have a genjutsu over yourself?" Sakura asks, making the boys look at her in surprise. "I didn't get any sleep, and I probably look like shit." Mai mutters. "It's a waste of chakra so just drop it." Sasuke says. Mai nodded and released the genjutsu, putting her face on the desk between her arms.

"Mai, are you alright?" Sakura asks, making Mai shot her head up in surprise. Mai glared at Naruto, who was sitting to her right. "It's nothing, I'll get over it soon enough." Mai says as Naruto ran away to put an eraser on the door. "What idiot would fall for something so stupid?" Sakura scoffs as Mai nodded her head in agreement. Any competent ninja would be able to see through that.

To their surprise a man opened the door and the eraser fell on his head. "Are you serious? That's our new instructor? There is no way in hell!" Mai yells, pointing at Kakashi. Sakura sighed and looked at Mai. "Mai, calm down." Mai looked at the pinkette and sighed, sitting back down. "My first impression of you all? I hate you." Kakashi says. "We don't exactly like you either." Mai retorts. Sasuke and Sakura sighed.

* * *

**Well that's chapter five, now I have to start writing even more. Oh well. Make sure to read and review, I make sure to update stories faster when I get reviews!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

**A/N: I know that I haven't written anything on fanfiction in a while, unfortunately I have a short attention span when it comes to stories and often begin writing whatever comes into my head. I saw this story after looking through some of my books and thought: "What the heck, I'll try to finish this one." Naruto doesn't belong to me but Mai and other minor characters I write do. Please review?**

Mai and the others met on the roof, wondering how the hell Kakashi became a jonin. "Alright then, introductions." "What specifically?" Sakura asks. "Name, likes, dislikes, hobbies, dreams or goals; whatever else you feel like throwing in." Kakashi shrugs. "How about you give us a sample." Sakura suggests. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, I have many likes, few dislikes, hobbies and a dream." Everyone sweat dropped. "You only told us your name!" Mai and Naruto yell, earning them both a punch to the head. "You were starting to act like the dobe." Sasuke comments as Mai glared at him. "Oww, that wasn't nice Sakura!" Naruto whines.

Sakura and Sasuke sighed; this was going to be torture. "Gloomy girl, you start the introductions." Mai rubbed the back of her head; it was still smarting after the hit. "My name is Mai Lee; I like training and occasionally listening to music. They both help calm me down." At that everyone raised an eyebrow. "What? I dislike squealing fangirls and people trying to steal my food, my hobby is being with friends I guess and my dream is to find my father." And kill him. Mai added mentally. "Alright, kid with no fashion sense, you go next." Kakashi says pointing at Naruto's bright orange jumpsuit. Sasuke smirked and Mai was trying her hardest not to laugh.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki! I like ramen and dislike the three minutes it takes to cook! I'm going to be the next hokage, believe it!" Naruto yells. "Ah! My ear drums!" Mai shouts, covering her ears. "You idiot! Stop yelling everything!" Sakura shouts, punching Naruto in the head. "You're not helping!" Mai screamed. "Idiots." Sasuke muttered as his three team mates continued yelling at each other.

Finally Sasuke had it and threatened to use his fire jutsu on them all if they didn't shut up. Mai had been on the other end of his fire attacks so she was the first to shut up. Naruto was still yelling so of course he was the first one that got a taste of Sasuke's strength. "Ow! Now my concussion has a concussion." Naruto mutters. "I don't think that's physically possible." Mai says with a snicker. Naruto glared at Mai. "Control your teme." Naruto says with a mischievous grin. Sasuke glared at Naruto and Mai looked at him in horror. "Did he just imply-? No my mind is just playing a cruel trick on me right now." Mai mutters.

"If this is how you all react with a normal conversation then you're all going to freak out after what I have to say." Kakashi says with an eye grin. Please, I doubt that there's anything that can faze me. Mai thought. "Of the 27 graduates only 9 will become genin. The rest will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi says. "What? No way! After all that hard work?!" Naruto yells. "No one said that this was supposed to be easy. You'll have to prove your worth at the training ground." Kakashi says. Well I guess I have to start training again, thankfully Lee is away for the week so I have all the equipment to myself. Mai thought happily. "Bring all the shinobi tools you have. And don't eat breakfast; you might throw it up later." Kakashi advices and gives them all a piece of paper. "All the information you'll need is on that paper. Good luck." Kakashi says. That night Naruto started "training" with a Kakashi doll and Mai practiced her accuracy on a wooden log with pressure points and chakra points marked on it.

The next day Kakashi arrived late, getting yelled at by everyone but Sasuke. He placed a timer on a log and faced his students. "It's set for noon. I have two bells; your goal is to take them from me before the time is up. Those that don't get a bell won't have lunch, will be forced to a tree stump and have the food eaten in front of them." Kakashi says. So that's why he told us not to eat anything. Mai thought, good thing she only took that as a suggestion. If he told them they couldn't eat then she would have listened to him. "Also the people that don't take a bell will fail and be sent back to the academy. You can use weapons and any means necessary; you must come at me with killing intent." Kakashi says. "But you'll be in danger!" Sakura protests. Yeah, he really shouldn't have told us to come at him with killing intent. He might actually end up dead if me or Sasuke go after him. Mai thought with a sigh. "Yeah, you're so slow you can't dodge a chalk board eraser!" Naruto says, only to be insulted by being called dead last.

Naruto took a kunai from his weapon's pouch and rushed at Kakashi. The jonin stopped Naruto's arm which was still in a stabbing position and bent it back to his own neck. "Calm down, I haven't said start yet." Kakashi says calmly. "Seems like you're ready to come at me with killing intent after all. I'm starting to like you guys. Okay let's get going. Ready, begin!" Everyone went to find cover and hide with the exception of one idiot. "Come here and fight me!" Naruto yells, standing his ground. What an idiot. Sakura, Sasuke and Mai thought with heavy sighs. To add insult to injury Kakashi took out a book, angering Naruto further. "Now I'll totally kick your ass!" Naruto yells. He punched at Kakashi's shoulder only to have it blocked with one hand then he tried kicking Kakashi in the head. Kakashi squatted low to the ground, not the slightest bit interested in Naruto's attacks. Naruto attempted to punch Kakashi again only to see smoke and hear Kakashi behind him. "You shouldn't let an enemy sneak up on you." Kakashi says, using what looked like a fire seal. Is he really going to use a jutsu on that idiot? Mai thought in shock. It looked like the jonin didn't care but maybe he did care more than he lead on.

"Naruto, run away! You're going to get killed!" Sakura shouts. "Hidden Leaf taijutsu technique: a 1000 years of pain!" Kakashi shouts, poking Naruto in the butt with so much force that he flew through the air like he was shot out of a cannon. Kakashi sighed, then went back to look for the others. Where is everyone? This isn't good; he's going to take us out one by one. I need to find someone! Mai thought, escaping her hiding place to find someone on her team. Only seconds later she heard a familiar scream. Sakura! Mai thought in horror, praying to god that she would make it to her friend in time. She followed the sound and found Sakura on the ground in a fetal position, her eyes filled with panic. A genjutsu? Mai wondered. They learned about that in class but they didn't cover much. Thankfully she did know that all she had to do was disrupt it with chakra. "Are you alright?" Mai asks in concern. "It was horrible. I saw a vision of Sasuke-kun dying!" Sakura sobbed. Mai rubbed her back soothingly. "Don't worry, it wasn't real." Mai says. "How can we even be expected to fight a jonin? He'll just take us out quickly." Sakura says, sounding defeated.

"Kakashi's only one person, maybe if we team up we'll have a chance." Mai says, Sakura agreed. The two then began discussing their plan of attack. Sasuke on the other hand finally found an opening while Kakashi was taunting Naruto and threw several weapons to the side of Kakashi's face. "Sasuke that's going too far!" Naruto yelps from his upside down position, courtesy of a tree branch and rope. Kakashi then substituted himself with a log. "Damn it, now he knows where I am!" Sasuke cursed. He came out in the open and began to throw shuriken at the jonin, missing him. "That attempt won't kill me." Kakashi says just as a shuriken cut through a trap Sasuke set earlier. Sasuke followed through with a kick aiming for Kakashi's face and a punch once his leg was caught. He kicked at Kakashi with his free leg and kicked downwards, making him completely upside-down with both his hands free as Kakashi had to let go of Sasuke's arm to block again. He went for a quick grab to get the bells and Kakashi kicked him away. "I'll admit you're better than the other two. As for that other girl I still haven't spotted her, maybe she ran away." Kakashi thought aloud. Sasuke used the horse and tiger hand signs, spewing a large amount of flames out of his mouth.

Kakashi dodged by going underground and used an earth style move to pull Sasuke into the ground until only his head was visible. Mai looked at the scene and would have had a laughing fit if it wasn't such a serious situation. She attempted to kick Kakashi in the neck with a drop kick; he was able to dodge easily and grabbed her leg. Several kunai whistled through the air, aiming at his arms. Kakashi released his hold on Mai's leg to dodge and raised an eyebrow. It seemed like some of them were getting the purpose of this exercise after all. Kakashi read the trajectory and was about to go to the source when the timer rang. "It's noon already? And we already had a good come back plan!" Mai whined. As promised Kakashi tied both Sasuke and Naruto to a stump. "Wait, shouldn't all of us be tied to a stump?" Sakura asks in confusion. "You two actually got the point of this exercise, to work together as a team. But the other two won't be sent back to the academy." Kakashi says. "Yes!" Naruto shouts. "You two should just quit as shinobi. You're both just punks." Kakashi says coldly. No way, Sasuke is one of the best fighters I know! There's no way that he should quit being a ninja. Mai thought, glaring at Kakashi. "Sensei couldn't you give both of them a second chance? Or at least let Sasuke get a second chance?" Sakura asks.

I feel so loved. Naruto thought sarcastically. "That wouldn't be fair to Naruto either." Mai says, having no idea why she was defending the idiot. He already proved that she couldn't trust him, not that there were many people that she trusted anyways. Kakashi sighed. "Since the girls decided to take pity on you morons I'll give you both a second chance. As your reward for passing the test you both may eat the lunches that were made." Kakashi says. "And just to make myself clear I am ordering both of you not to give the boys any of your food." Kakashi says sternly then going off to only god knew where. "I can't just eat in front of Sasuke-kun, it just wouldn't be fair!" Sakura whines. "Maybe if they both weren't idiots they wouldn't have gotten themselves into this mess." Mai says. "Mai!" "What? I'm just telling you my honest opinion, they should be glad that Kakashi is even giving them another chance." Mai says with a shrug.

"That's it I don't care if we get in trouble, I'm giving him my bento!" Sakura says stubbornly. "You're giving it to Naruto?" Mai asks. "Why would I give any to him? I'm giving mine to Sasuke." Sakura says as her stomach let out a loud and painful growl. "You should just eat your lunch, the guys can have mine. That way you won't get in trouble." Mai says. "But then you'll be hungry too!" Sakura protests. "You know how Kakashi said that eating before training could make us puke? I took that as a suggestion and chose to ignore it, I had breakfast this morning." Mai says proudly. Sakura face palmed, she really shouldn't have been surprised. Mai cut Sasuke down from his stump, freeing him. "Hey! What about me?" Naruto demands angrily. "What about you? I think its funny seeing you squirm." Mai says. Sasuke had already eaten the first half of the box and sighed. "You can have the rest. We all need to have energy for the next part of the test." Sasuke says. Just as Naruto was going to taste the untouched ramen in the bento Kakashi appeared in front of them with a stern expression. My career as a ninja just ended before it could begin! Mai thought in horror.

"I specifically told you not to give them any food. YOU… pass." Kakashi says with a grin. "Hold on we just went against your orders. Shouldn't you be mad?" Mai asks, Kakashi chuckled. "You guys are the first to pass this test; everyone else would have blindly followed my orders. Although I suppose it was interesting hearing that one of you didn't take my suggestion to heart yesterday." Kakashi says, looking straight at Mai. "You heard that? Darn it." Mai muttered. "As a ninja you must see underneath the underneath, those that break the rules are known as trash but those that abandon their comrades are worse than trash." Kakashi says. Naruto looked at Kakashi in admiration Sakura was celebrating and Sasuke acted indifferent. Mai on the other hand was pissed because Kakashi heard everything that they said and she hadn't even sensed him. "This ends your training, you all pass. Starting tomorrow team 7 will begin its first mission." Kakashi says. "Alright!" Mai cheers. "Let's go." Kakashi says as the others followed him. "Hey! Damn it I knew something like this would happen!" Naruto yells, still tied to the stump. "Quit complaining." Sasuke says, throwing a shuriken into the rope. Naruto fell on his butt and Mai smirked. "Looks like I'm starting to rub off on you Uchiha." Mai says teasingly. "You wish." Sasuke scoffs. "Hey! Wait up!" Naruto yells.

"I'm officially a ninja!" Mai shouts cheerfully, hugging Neji. "You passed Hatake's test?!" She heard a manly voice yell. Mai turned her head to see a man with a black bowl hair cut and a green spandex suit. "Keep that weirdo away from me!" Mai yelps, backing up behind Neji like the man had a contagious disease. "Mai that's just Gai-sensei." Neji says. "It doesn't make him any less creepy." Mai mutters. "So this is my pupil's sister, no wonder you passed his test." Gai says with a dazzling smile. Too bright! Mai thought, covering her eyes. Wait, his pupil's sister? Please tell me that doesn't mean… "My lovely little sister how are you?" Rock Lee asks cheerfully. Mai looked in horror when she saw her brother now looked like a miniature Gai. "I am officially an only child." She mutters weakly. "Doesn't it look great?" Rock Lee asks obliviously. Her eye twitched as she tried not to insult him. "W-well you won't be seen in trees." She comments as he engulfed her in a hug. "We'll see you later!" Rock Lee says cheerfully, dragging a nearly unconscious Mai behind him. "I feel sorry for her having to live with him." Tenten sighs.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

**A/N: Another chapter, man I am on fire this week! I'm going to an event in Baltimore this weekend called Acquire the Fire and won't be near a computer till next week. But to make up for this I promise that there will be NejiXMai fluff in the beginning of this chapter. They're just so adorable together! Please review and enjoy!**

The next morning when Mai woke up she screamed at the sight of her brother's new look. "Mai-chan, what's wrong?!" Rock Lee yells. "Nothing, it's just a nightmare." Mai says, wishing that her brother never changed his looks. "Today you're having your first mission; you're growing up so fast." He says with teary eyes. He crushed Mai with a bear hug and her face was turning purple from lack of oxygen. "Let go. Too much love!" Mai choked. Her brother hesitantly let go of her, a wide grin still present on his face. "And I made you breakfast!" Rock Lee says cheerfully. I'm going to die today. Either during the mission or breakfast. Mai thought to herself as her brother dragged her into the kitchen. Well the food looks edible. Mai thought with a sigh of relief. "Neji helped make the food too." Rock Lee adds as an after thought. "Where is he?" Mai asks excitedly. A pair of smooth hands covered her eyes and her grin grew even wider. "I was behind you the whole time." Neji says. Mai briefly wondered how Neji had gotten into the apartment that she and her brother were staying in until their house was rebuilt but ignored it. She ducked under his arms and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you for saving me from my brother's horrible cooking." Mai says. "That means that you owe me then." Neji says with a smirk. "Owe you what?" Mai asks. "You'll know when I take my payment." Neji says, prying her off so she could eat. Mai shrugged and sat down at the table. She was just about to start eating when she felt something warm touching her lips. "Neji!" She squeaked, flustered by the kiss. "I told you that you would know. You might want to start eating now." Neji says, walking out of the apartment. "Jerk." Mai muttered her face now a dark red. "Ah young love! How I wish that one day I will find someone to be that loving towards!" Rock Lee says, sighing blissfully. With that current look I don't think it will be happening anytime soon unless someone likes eccentric ninja. Mai thought, finishing off the rest of her food. "Did you get the last of our things from the remains of the house?" Mai asks. "Yes, I even found your medication. I don't think its going to work if you ever need it though, it's expired." Rock Lee says. "Don't worry about it; I don't think I'm going to need it anytime soon." Mai says, gathering her things to meet with her team.

When Mai went to meet with the rest of her team she was still in a cheerful mood. "Hey guys!" She yelled, waving one of her hands energetically in the air. At the moment she didn't even care that Kakashi was late. "You're in a good mood." Sakura says teasingly. "Yep." "Who was it?" Sakura asks. "Neji." Mai says simply, blushing lightly. "Oh so then you saw your boyfriend this morning." Mai nodded then glared at her friend. "The guys didn't need to know that. This is supposed to be strictly between girls!" She says in exasperation. "Um Sasuke did the ground do something to piss you off? If you glare anymore the grass is going to catch fire." Naruto comments. "Shut up dobe." Sasuke snapped. "You don't need to bite my head off." Naruto mutters. "What are you two arguing about this time?" Mai asks curiously. The glare that she received from Sasuke made her shut up. There was a tense silence when Kakashi appeared late, again.

"Do you even own a clock?" Mai asks. "I take it you don't want your first mission then." Kakashi comments, a folder in his hand. "No we'll take it!" Mai says quickly. "That's what I thought you would say. Today we're going on a tracking mission." Kakashi says. "That sounds awesome!" Naruto cheers. "What are we tracking?" Sakura asks. "A cat named Tora, we're to find and return this cat to his owner." Kakashi says. "Um Kakashi-sensei? I'm allergic to cats." Mai says. "You'll just have to put up with the dander then." Kakashi comments. "I'm not allergic to their dander I'm allergic to being scratched. Could you at least let me get my medicine?" Mai asks. "You can get it after the mission." Kakashi says. Mai sighed; this wasn't going to end well for her. She could already tell.

"Is everyone in their positions?" Kakashi asks over the radio. "Sakura in position." "Naruto's here believe it!" "Sasuke in position." "Mai in position, awaiting further orders." Meanwhile the cat was peacefully oblivious to the four genin surrounding it. "Now!" All four genin darted towards the cat; Tora hissed in fright and ran. "Gotcha!" Naruto yells triumphantly, catching the cat by its tail. Tora then started scratching at Naruto's face until he dropped him and ran again. "Ow!" Naruto yelped. Don't come in my direction! Mai silently begged, apparently the cat wasn't telepathic. Tora ran straight for her and she grabbed the cat by the scruff of its neck, holding its writhing body away from her as if it was contaminated. "Hold it closer to you or it'll escape again!" Mai looked to her team in exasperation. "Sure make the one allergic to cats carry the thing, its genius. Oh and I hate you all." She mutters, using both her arms to hug Tora against her chest. He began scratching her arms and biting her. "Ow! Stop doing that you furry little demon!" Mai yells furiously, trying to ignore the pain in her arms.

By the time they returned Tora to his owner the area around Mai's scratches were already inflamed. "I hate cats, I really hate cats." She mutters, wincing in pain. "What happened to your arms?" Naruto asks. "I told all of you that I'm allergic to cats. And the cat bites seem to be making it worse. Unfortunately I don't think that I'm going to be able to pick up my medicine." Mai says, glaring at Kakashi heatedly. "You didn't mention that your reaction would be this severe." Kakashi says. Mai scoffed and led the way to the apartment, fumbling to get her keys with shaky hands. "I can open it." Kakashi says, taking the key from her hand and opening the door. "Now where did nii-san put my medicine?" Mai mutters, looking through the apartment.

The scratches were starting to itch and Mai knew that if she scratched them the inflammation would become even worse. Finally she found it on a desk near her bed side, the syringe right beside it. "Found it!" Mai yells. The others came into the room and Sakura looked at the medicine. "Are you sure you should be using this? It expired." Sakura comments. "It doesn't matter, could someone please put the medicine into the syringe?" Mai asks. Kakashi took the tube of liquid and put the needle through the top, drawing in the liquid. She cringed as the needle went through her skin and she felt the medicine start to kick in. "That's much better." Mai sighed, the painful sensation in her arms starting to disappear. She could even see her skin starting to turn to its regular color and not the ugly red splotches that had riddled her arm earlier. "That sort of reaction could have killed you if it was anywhere near your neck or in Naruto's case near your face." Kakashi says. "That's what I was trying to tell you!" Mai groans.

"This success calls for ramen!" Naruto shouts. "You think everything calls for ramen. We should get Barbeque." Mai says. "But that's just meat!" Naruto whines. "So? Better than noodles in a cup." Mai says, sticking her tongue out. "You're both being childish, who said I was going to treat any of you?" Kakashi asks. "First of all it's the medicine making me act like this. Second, it's the least you can do after putting me in a situation that could have killed me." Mai says with a somber expression. "Fine we'll go out to eat." Kakashi heaved a sigh. "Yes!" Naruto cheered, going to Mai for a high five. She just looked at him like he was an idiot. "Sure, now you don't ignore me." She mutters.

"Yes! Barbeque!" Mai cheers as Naruto looked depressed. "Maybe I'll just have a little…" Sakura says hesitantly. **To hell with the diet, this food looks good! **Inner Sakura yells, barely holding back the urge to drool. "Maybe we should go here after every mission." Mai comments. "No." Kakashi says sternly. He didn't think that his wallet would be able to handle it. She shrugged but her determined eyes showed that as soon as she was finished eating there would be a more heated discussion about this. "Nee-chan!" Rock Lee yells, tackling his sister in a hug. "Still sore." Mai says with a wince. "Sorry! To repent for my wrong doing I shall run three laps around the village!" Rock Lee proclaims. "You don't have to do something that idiotic. And stay still your pacing is starting to make me dizzy." Mai says, pressing the bridge of her nose with two fingers in exasperation. "I'm sorry!" This was NOT the way I wanted my team mates to meet my brother. Mai thought with a groan. "You're one of Gai's students?" Kakashi asks, barely holding back a laugh. "Yes and he has told me about your youthful rivalry!" Rock Lee says excitedly, his eyes gleaming. Mai started banging her head against the table repeatedly. Why god, why?

"Hey Mai, how do you know this guy?" Naruto asks. "He's my older brother." Mai muttered. Naruto started laughing and Mai punched him in the head. "That's not funny; it isn't like he was always this weird." Mai says. What her brother did next made her want to sink into the ground in embarrassment. "My lovely Sakura it is so good to see you again." Rock Lee says, trying to kiss her hand. "I told you to stay away from me, I don't like you!" Sakura yells, hiding behind Mai. When her brother started blowing air kisses even Mai was starting to get scared. "Hit the deck!" Mai yelled, ducking under the table with Sakura. "Will you all stop acting like idiots and eat before all the food gets burnt?" Everyone looked at their current voice of reason, Sasuke.

"Of course!" Sakura says, looking nervously at Rock Lee. **Who cares about food right now? Lover boy is trying to kill us! **Inner Sakura screams. Mai happily took Sasuke's suggestion and finished the pork quickly. After that Rock Lee started dragging Mai away. "What do you want now?" Mai asks irritably. "We're going to train, Gai-sensei said you could come with us!" Rock Lee says cheerfully. Noo! I can't handle them both at the same time! Mai thought, trying to squirm her way out of Rock Lee's grip. "We'll see you later!" Rock Lee says cheerfully.

"There is no way you're making me wear the same green spandex you're wearing. I will beat you into unconsciousness before that happens." Mai says. She loved her big brother but his fashion sense had gone down the drain as soon as Gai became his sensei last year. Rock Lee looked at her with disappointment in his eyes, and then his expression brightened when Gai appeared. Mai rubbed her eyes, was she seeing a genjutsu of a sunset behind him? "Alright! It's time for our daily training regiment!" Gai says, grinning brightly. "What do we have to do?" Mai asks. "Three laps around Konoha, two hundred push ups, ten minutes of crunches and five minutes of sparring." Neji answers. "Does this guy want us to drop dead?" Mai exclaims. "You get used to it after a while." Tenten shrugs. "I shall work my hardest as always. YOSH!" Rock Lee says excitedly. "I bet I can complete your laps faster than you." Mai comments. "You're on!" Her brother shouts. "The strength of their sibling rivalry is ridiculous. Mai almost never wins." Tenten sighs. "That's one of the few things they have in common. At least today training will be interesting." Neji comments.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

**Snow: Man I almost forgot about how I used to write the authors notes. I'm back from Baltimore! Yay!**

**Sasuke: Stop being so damn cheerful, it's irritating.**

**Snow: And you being an emo irritates me! Rock Lee, give them the disclaimer.**

**Rock Lee: YOSH! Naruto does not belong to Snow-hime but any original characters do. I'm going to win!**

**Snow: Nice to see you're excited. *sweat drops* Hope you like this chapter, make sure you review after reading!**

Mai and Rock Lee looked at each other briefly before they started to run around the village at full sprint, both with determined expressions on their faces. "I have a feeling that one of them will need to be carried back to their apartment when their rivalry goes full circle. You know they aren't just going to stop at racing." Tenten says. "That's just the type of ninja that they are, they put their all into whatever they do. Then they act like idiots and push themselves too far. We should get started on the laps as well before Gai notices." Neji says, Tenten shivered. "I know, last time we didn't run he forced those horrible spandex outfits on us and made us wear them for a week!" They both began jogging around the village at a leisurely pace and were lapped by the siblings twice. By the time that they finished they were both out of breath, looking at Gai expectantly. "Well? Who crossed first?" Mai pants. "That was such a magnificent display of energy that it inspires even me!" Gai says. "Who won Gai-sensei?" Rock Lee asks, snapping his teacher out of a daze. "You both arrived at the same time."

Mai's left eye twitched, they ran full out and it was still a tie? They couldn't just leave it at this, she needed to win! "Well that didn't give us a winner. Push ups?" Mai asks. "You're on!" Tenten and Neji had just finished their lap and saw that the siblings were already starting on their push ups. They would take quick glances at each other to see if the other had made more progress. So far it looked like Mai was going through the exercise slightly faster than her brother. "They're only going to stop when the other passes out. Morons." Tenten says, shaking her head. Neji nodded in agreement. "I have never seen siblings filled with such youth!" Gai cheers, tears streaming down his face. "Ha! I won!" Mai yells. Her shoulder blades hurt and her arms were starting to feel numb but it was worth it! "I will win this competition or I'll cook dinner!" Rock Lee proclaims. So even if I win I'll still lose. Mai thought with a groan. "I will do the most crunches in these ten minutes!" Rock Lee shouts. "I would say that you're an idiot but then I would have to call myself one for even doing this." Mai mutters.

Rock Lee had won when it came to the crunches. Halfway through the exercise Mai's stomach emptied itself of the food she ate only two hours ago. The only thing left of their training was to spar. Unfortunately for them they wouldn't be facing each other and the others hadn't pushed themselves to the point of exhaustion. And why do I have to spar against Neji? Didn't my brother proclaim that he was his eternal rival? Mai wonders, taking a defensive stance. She only had one goal, to stay standing for the whole five minutes. She knew that once she hit the ground that she would probably pass out. Rock Lee was having the same problem and would have a harder time fighting Tenten. Unlike Neji she didn't use close combat, instead she used long distance weapons that could be thrown or extend her reach. "Any rules?" Mai asks. "No using jutsu or chakra in this match. Begin!" Neji and Tenten rushed at their opponents, Rock Lee and Mai dodged sluggishly. Tenten started throwing shuriken and kunai at Rock Lee, making him jump all over the place. Meanwhile Mai was blocking attacks to her chakra system while trying to land a strike on Neji's.

Rock Lee felt drained and was about to forfeit, he could barely move anymore. Mai was also worn down and Neji landed a blow to her stomach strong enough to knock her to the ground. She struggled to push herself back up and ignore the part of her body that was screaming at her to rest. It was trying to convince her that the grass under a nearby tree would make a wonderful pillow. Once again she took a defensive position and went for one final attack. Instead of trying to punch him she waited for him to attack her and flipped him to the ground, pinning his arms. Without access to his arms he wouldn't be able to use his hands anymore. Neji threw her off with an irritated expression. He underestimated her because she had been working harder than he had, he couldn't have lived with himself with such an embarrassing defeat. Rock Lee was pinned to a tree by several weapons and had a katana to his neck. "I concede." He says, raising both his arms. Tenten lowered the katana and pried him off the tree as they both continued to watch the fight between Neji and Mai.

Mai could see that Neji wasn't taking it easy on her anymore; his movements were swifter and more calculated. As she continued dodging the palm thrusts her back pressed against a tree, she had nowhere else to escape. "I concede, I lost." Mai says before Neji could land a strike on her. Neji smirked and led her away from the tree to the others. "So? Who would you say won that round?" Mai asks, leaning against Neji. "Neither of you really won against us. But if it was a test of stamina then you won." Neji says, patting her head. "I hate when people do that." Mai mutters then yawned. "It's already dark out, I'll walk you home." Neji says, Mai smiled softly. "Thanks Neji, don't know what I'd do without you." She jokes. Rock Lee looked at Tenten with puppy eyes. "I am not walking you back to your apartment. Besides that's what a gentleman is supposed to do." Tenten huffs, walking back to her house. "Wait, then I shall accompany you!" "Yeah right you barely have enough energy to stand right now. I do not need you to pass out on the road."

"Hey Mai." "Hm?" Mai looked at Neji tiredly. "Are you sure you'll be alright walking?" Neji asks. Mai was about to answer but she yawned instead. Neji stopped and picked Mai off the ground, making her squeak in surprise. "What are you doing?" She asks, her face turning red. "I'm carrying you the rest of the way." Neji says as if it were obvious. "I know, but why are you holding me so close to your chest?" "Would you rather I sling you over my shoulder?" Neji asks, Mai's facial expression was priceless. "I'm fine like this!" Neji chuckled, it was fun teasing her. As Neji walked Mai's eyes began to close and she snuggled closer to Neji's chest, sighing contently. Neji shivered as her breath hit his neck but he stayed focused on getting her home safely. Soon she was completely asleep and Rock Lee caught up with Neji, a grin on his face. "You better not say anything stupid." Neji says, looking at his 'rival.' "I was just about to say that I didn't know it was possible for your face to turn that red." Rock Lee says. Neji glared at him but he couldn't do much with Mai in his arms. "You mention that to anyone and I will cut off chakra to all of your limbs." Neji threatens, Rock Lee laughed. "Sure you will." He says, opening the apartment door.

Mai's eyes opened as she felt a warm blanket get placed over her body. When her vision cleared enough she saw that it was Neji. "Do you have to leave already Neji?" She asks, her voice sounding like a child's. Neji brushed some of her hair away from her face and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I'll see you later; right now you need to rest." Neji says as Mai pouted. "Fine, but the next time I see you it won't be for training." She says stubbornly. "It's a date." Neji says, closing the door. The sentence began echoing in her head. I just indirectly asked him out on a date! Mai thought in horror, wasn't it supposed to be the guy that asks for a date? Before she had too much time to ponder the concept her brain decided to shut down her thoughts and she went into a peaceful sleep. Rock Lee looked in on his sister and smiled. She had definitely grown up; when she was younger she couldn't have come close to beating him in competitions. "It must be something that runs in the blood." Rock Lee says sadly then he remembered what he said earlier. He wouldn't have been able to cook dinner if his life depended on it at the moment. I'll just make breakfast again, I'm sure she won't mind. Rock Lee thought, passing out on the couch.

The next morning Mai woke up to the smell of burnt toast. This time my Prince Charming isn't here to save me. Mai thought with a sigh. She got out of bed and immediately regretted it. The floor was cold and her body ached all over, she just wanted to crawl back under her covers again. The only thing that stopped her from doing just that was the fear of her brother setting the kitchen on fire. She looked at the kitchen and was surprised that it wasn't as messy as Rock Lee's other attempts at breakfast were. There was only one pancake on the ceiling and scrambled eggs, Rock Lee had long given up on making eggs without breaking the yoke. The toast was still burnt but with enough butter and jam that could be fixed. "Good morning!" Rock Lee says cheerfully. "Good morning." Mai says sitting at the table. "Oh yeah, Sakura came over to tell you that your team is meeting at the training grounds." Rock Lee says with hearts in his eyes, a dreamy expression on his face. I feel so sorry for you Sakura. Mai thought. "Alright then I'll just have a quick bite and take a shower." Mai says, eating her food at a fast pace. "Don't eat too fast or you'll choke." Rock Lee warns. Mai looked at him, and then pointed to the orange juice. "I can just wash it down." She says.

"Every part of me hurts right now." Mai mutters as she sat down next to Sakura. "What happened?" Sakura asks. "My brother and I got competitive again, but it was worth it. I finally beat him at something!" Mai says cheerfully. "Did something else happen?" Sakura asks. "I'm not telling, last time you blurted it out of the boys." Mai says with a grin. "Oh come on! You have to tell me the details, at least a hint!" Sakura complains. "Nope I'm just going to let your guesses drive you insane for the rest of the day." Mai says with a grin. "You've been nicer lately. It's kinda scary." Naruto says. Mai looked at him with a curious glance. "So you want me to act like Sasuke?" Mai asks. "There's nothing wrong with the way Sasuke acts!" Sakura protests. "Calm down, I'm just joking. When it comes down to things Sasuke is perfect the way he is. Changing him would just be weird." Mai says.

That was when Kakashi appeared and once again Naruto and Sakura yelled at him for being late. I have a feeling that we'll have to get used to this. Mai thought with a sigh. "Today we have a mission that our team was specifically requested for." Kakashi says. "We don't have to chase that evil cat again do we?" Naruto asks, remembering the scratch marks that were on his face. If it wasn't for his body's ability to heal fast he would have still had band aids on his face. "I think you'll find this next mission less traumatizing." Kakashi says. "Are we going to protect a government official? Or a princess? And face bad guys?" Naruto asks excitedly. "Nothing that exciting." Kakashi says.

"Onee-chan!" A small toddler with short brown hair and brown eyes yelled, tackling one of Mai's legs. "He wouldn't stop asking when he could see you again. It's almost as if he wanted us to leave for a mission as soon as possible." His father said with a fake pout. "You really wanted to see us that badly?" Mai asks with a smile. "Yep!" Takumi answered cheerfully. "It's that brat again." Sasuke muttered, not liking the fact last time they watched him that his cast was used as a piece of drawing paper. "How about you go get some of your toys?" Takumi nodded excitedly and ran into the other room. "So we're babysitting now? What does that have to do with being a ninja?" Naruto asks. "Being a shinobi does not mean that we are above doing small tasks. And we will be doing these type of tasks until you all prove to me that you can handle something more advanced." Kakashi explains. "But it'll be boring!" Naruto complains. "Believe me it's anything but boring." Sasuke mutters, Mai laughed. "That's because you're horrible at watching kids!" Sasuke glared at her, scowling. "That's because I've never had younger siblings!" Sasuke snapped.

**I think that's supposed to be a cliff hanger... Please review!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Snow-hime: Chapter 9, yay! *hears crickets in the background* Hello? **

**Sasuke: There's no one here, there were no reviews for your more current chapters.**

**Snow-hime: They don't like me anymore? *runs off to cry in a corner***

**Mai: *sighs* She won't stop writing because of this but a little support would help. She actually was considering not updating this story until she got a review. *yells* Stop being a drama queen!**

**Itachi: Snow-hime does not own Naruto, only her original characters and extra details added to existing chapters of the manga. *Snow-hime comes out of her self pity long enough to glomp Itachi* Somehow I knew this was going to happen.*sigh* **

**Chapter 9**

Mai looked at Sasuke angrily, a wounded expression on her face. "You don't need to have other siblings to know how to treat them." That was when Sasuke remembered both her younger siblings were dead, now he wished he could take his words back. Takumi ran into the room with an arm full of toys and stuffed animals. "Let's play onee-chan!" Takumi says, smiling brightly. "Sure." Mai says as she allows the small boy to drag her into a play area. Sakura looked torn between staying with Sasuke and asking Mai what was wrong. Her concern won out against her affection for Sasuke as she went to join her friend. "Are you alright Mai?" Sakura asks. "I'm fine; it's just that Sasuke touched a sore topic for me." Mai says. Takumi looked at Mai and his eyes were narrowed in adorable determination. "Was that boy being a meanie?" Takumi asks. "You could say that." Mai comments. Takumi stood up to his full three foot height and stomped over to the boys. "You meanie!" Takumi yelled, kicking Sasuke in the shin. "I did not tell him to do that, I swear!" Mai says defensively as Sakura glared at her. Takumi came back and smiled at Mai. "Do you feel better now onee-chan?" He asks. I wonder if he'd kick Sasuke again if I said no. Mai thought. "Well-" "Mai!" "Fine, I'm fine." Mai mutters.

Did she actually tell that brat to kick me? Sasuke wondered as Naruto laughed at him. "At least little kids know you're a jerk." Naruto says with a grin. "At least I don't act like a child." Sasuke comments. "I do not!" Naruto yells. "Will both of you stop bickering and do something useful?" Mai asks, looking at them impatiently. Takumi snickered, pointing at the boys. "Lackeys!" He says, getting laughs from both girls. Where would a little kid like him hear the word lackey from? Sasuke wondered. "Yes lackeys, go get us some refreshments." Mai says with a snicker. "We are not lackeys." Sasuke says. Mai gave them a glare that border lined being the same intensity as an angry mother's. "Either go into the kitchen or you can watch Takumi." Mai says sternly. "I've gotta go to the bathroom!" Naruto yells, leaving the room to escape her glare. "I can watch a kid for a few minutes." Sasuke says confidently. "Alright, Sakura let's go." Mai says, dragging her into the kitchen. "But what about Sasuke?" "Don't worry, he seems to have the patience of a saint. He hasn't killed Naruto yet." Mai comments. "You really aren't going to hold a grudge against him are you?" Sakura asks. "Only if he doesn't apologize." Mai says when they heard something strange, Takumi was giggling.

Both girls looked out from the door frame and saw Sasuke tickling Takumi. "That's so adorable." Sakura says, sighing dreamily. Maybe he has a soft spot after all; he did have a bigger family than I did. He could have had younger cousins for all I know. Mai thought, then shook her head. No, she wasn't going to forgive him that easily. He should at least attempt to apologize. "Focus Sakura, we're in here for drinks remember? And where's Naruto?" Mai asks. "How am I supposed to know where that idiot is? He's probably goofing off somewhere." Sakura says. "Or he could have been telling the truth and is going to the bathroom. Either that or he just felt like facing a bush." Mai comments, wanting to hit her head against the table. Outside the window you could see the blonde hair and orange jumpsuit that Naruto wore with his back to the window. Thank god I didn't see anything. Mai thought in relief. "Naruto don't go to the bathroom in front of a window!" Sakura yells, picking up an iron and throwing it through the window at him. The iron hit him in the head then they saw him disappear in a poof of smoke. "A shadow clone jutsu? He is so lazy." Mai sighed.

"Thank you for watching our son again." Takumi's mother, Manami, says with a tired smile. "No problem, it's always fun watching him." Mai says, trying to pry him off her leg. "Don't leave onee-chan, please stay!" Takumi begs. "I can't, I need to go back home. But I'll visit you if you want." Mai says. "Can she?" Takumi asks, looking at his parents hopefully. Both of them were almost falling asleep while standing but gave him a soft smile. "That's alright with us." "Great." Kakashi says, dragging Mai by the back of her collar and Naruto by his ear. "Ow!" "I can walk by myself!" Both genin protested. "You're going to take a nap now Takumi." Manami says, grabbing her son's hand. "But I don't wanna, you can't make me!" Takumi yells, slipping his hand out of her grip and running up the stairs. Kyoya groaned, they did not need this right now. "I'll check the bathroom, you go look in the closet." He says with a sigh.

"I was only speeding up what was sure to be a slow process." Kakashi comments. "Fine, will you let us go now?" Mai asks irritably. Both genin thudded to the ground as Kakashi released them without warning. Mai glared up at him and Naruto groaned. "Thanks for the warning." She mutters. "Naruto, any reason that you left in the middle of a mission?" Kakashi asks. "I didn't leave, I left a clone there. I was trying to see how far I could go until it would disappear. Then it got hit in the back of the head with something." Naruto says, subconsciously rubbing the back of his head. "Wow, that almost sounded intelligent. But you forgot that each clone has part of your charka so they would be able to sustain themselves no matter how far they are from you." Mai says. "How did you know that?" Naruto asks, wide eyed. "I read that part of the scroll too, remember? I actually read more than the signs to perform the jutsu." Mai says. "Why haven't you used the jutsu so far?" Kakashi asks suspiciously. "It takes a lot of chakra that I don't want to waste. I can't make hundreds of them like Naruto, I need to build up my chakra reserve." Mai explains. "So that means I'm better than you at something!" Naruto says with a grin. "Whatever makes you happy." Mai mutters.

"How long are we going to do these easy missions? I'm ready for action!" Naruto yells. "Until I say you can, until then you're stuck with them. Make sure to meet in the academy where the mission assignment center is at seven o'clock sharp." Kakashi says, dismissing them. "He'll probably just be late again." Mai mutters. "I know." Sakura groans. "On the upside Naruto might annoy Kakashi-sensei to the point we'll get a higher ranked mission." Mai jokes. "Hey." Sasuke tried getting Mai's attention; she ignored him so he tried another attempt. "Oi." "My name is not 'Oi' or 'Hey' it's Mai." She says. "Are you actually planning to ignore me for the entire day?" Sasuke asks in amusement. "Ignore would be an understatement. More like I'm not going to acknowledge your existence until you apologize." Mai says simply. "That would mean that I did something wrong, which I didn't." Sasuke says stubbornly. "Alright then, your funeral." Mai says, heading back to her apartment. If this team doesn't come together soon I'm afraid something bad will happen. Kakashi thought gravely.

"Mai!" "Leave me alone, it's only five." Mai mutters sleepily. "But you need to wake up early to see the sunrise!" Rock Lee says, opening the curtains. Light flooded through the window and Mai pulled a blanket over her head. Rock Lee sighed and walked out of the room, grabbing a bucket and filling it with ice. Finally I can get more sleep. Mai thought in relief. At least that was what she thought before she felt cold ice cubes on her neck. "I am going to kill you!" Mai yells angrily, bolting out of bed. "A morning workout, YOSH!" Rock Lee cheers. Just then the door opened and Sakura watched in shock as Mai threw everything within grabbing distance at her brother. Maybe I shouldn't have come here so early. Sakura thought with a sigh. "Sakura-chan, how lovely it is to see you again!" Rock Lee says, stopping for a brief moment. That gave Mai an opening to throw an alarm clock at his head, knocking him out.

"That was a close one." Sakura sighs in relief. "When did you get here Sakura?" Mai asks, yawning into her hand. "A few minutes ago, I came here to talk to you." Sakura says. "If this is about Sasuke all I have to say is I'm not forgiving him until he attempts to apologize." Mai says. "But he probably doesn't know why you're upset!" Sakura argues. "Even if he did know I doubt he'd apologize even then." Mai says, she knew how prideful and stubborn he could be. She was about to head out to get breakfast when Sakura stopped her. "What?" Mai asks irritably. "You're still in your pajamas and you haven't taken a shower." Sakura states. "Yeah, that could've been bad. Thanks." Mai says with a tired smile. "Don't mention it. In fact after you're ready I'll pick out an outfit for you." Sakura says with a grin. "You really don't need to do that!" Mai protests, she only wore a dress that one time to make a point. "Don't worry, it'll be something cute!" Sakura says, pushing her into the bathroom and handing her a towel. I'm going to regret this. Mai thought.

Mai was glad that Sakura had picked out a nice shirt and a pair of jeans for her, not a dress like she was wearing. The D-rank missions they were getting involved physical labor and she wanted to be in something comfortable when they did them. They all walked into the room, surprised to see Kakashi already there. Mai rubbed her eyes, then punched Naruto in the shoulder. "Ow! What was that for?" He demands. "I needed to see if we were dreaming, apparently we aren't." Mai says with a shrug. "Why you!" "Be quiet, we're here to receive our new missions." Sakura says. **So shut up you idiot, you're giving me a headache! **Inner Sakura yells. The third Hokage looked at them and took out a sheet of paper, looking at it while smoking a pipe. "Kakashi's Team Seven, your next duty is… Babysitting an elder's grandson, shopping in a neighboring village and help with potato digging." He says. All of those sound boring. Mai thought, leaning against the wall with a wistful sigh. "No thank you! We want a better mission!" Naruto demands. Mai hit her forehead against the wall. I totally called it. She thought. I actually agree. Sasuke thought. I knew this was going to happen eventually. Kakashi thought with a sigh.

After that Mai zoned out when the Hokage and Iruka were explaining the mission ranking system and how they were distributed to different ninja. She only started paying attention when she heard yet another one of Naruto's outbursts. "I'm not the same trouble making brat that you think I am!" Mai looked at him and noted that with their missions that even if Naruto complained he would still put all of his effort into it. Maybe he's right. Mai thought. "Well if you want it that much I'll give you a C-rank mission. It's a protection mission for a certain individual." The Hokage says, secretly proud of how Naruto started to change. "Who is it? A feudal lord? A princess?" Naruto asks excitedly. This sounds familiar. His teammates thought. "Calm down I'm about to introduce him. Will you come in here?" The door creaked open and an old man walked into the room, a bottle of sake in his hand. This guy is drunk! Mai thought in disgust. "They're all just a bunch of super brats. Especially the short one with the stupid looking face. Are you really a ninja? Hey?!" Naruto laughed nervously. "Who's the shortest one with the stupid face?" Naruto asks, looking at his teammates. He should realize it any second now… Mai thought with a smirk. Mai, Sakura and Sasuke all looked at Naruto who was the shortest.

"I'll kill you!" Naruto yells. "What's the point of killing the person we're supposed to protect? Idiot." Kakashi says, holding Naruto back. "I'm Tazuna, an expert bridge builder in the Mist Village. And I expect you to provide super protection until I arrive in the village." He says. This guy is still drunk, and why does he keep calling us super? Do villages without their own ninja look up to them as super heroes? Mai wonders. She tried envisioning them all in spandex and capes, she almost laughed in front of their client. Pfft! Sasuke in spandex, that'll be the day! Mai thought with a wide grin on her face. Why is she looking at me like that? It's sort of creepy. Sasuke thought. Then again he was used to fangirls staring at him but at least he could tell what they were thinking!


	10. Chapter 10

**Snow-hime: Sorry for the wait, I got too lazy to type the last chapter.**

**Sakura: Snow-hime, did you read this?**

**Snow-hime: *reads paper* Wha?**

**Sasuke: You said to review, you never said what to put in the review. *smirks***

**Snow-hime: Smart ass! Stop trying to confuse me with logic!**

**Kakashi: Let's just get this over with. Snow-hime does not own Naruto, can I have that new volume of Icha Icha Paradise now? *Sasuke and Sakura look at Snow-hime in shock***

**Snow-hime: *blushes* What? It isn't like I actually read it. Please review and tell me what you think of the chapter. Thanks! **

Chapter 10

"All right! Road trip!" Naruto yells happily. "Will you stop acting like an idiot? You're making us look bad." Mai says irritably. "But this is the first time I've been outside of the village! Don't tell me you're not excited too." He says, pointing at her. "I've been outside the village before, it's no big deal." Mai says. "Am I really leaving my life in the hands of these fools?" Tazuna mutters. "Listen old man, you don't mess with a ninja, especially an awesome one like me. My name is Naruto Uzumaki and I'll become Hokage one day!" Naruto yells. Why me? Mai thought with a groan. "Hokage, eh? The best in your village? I don't think you have it in ya." Tazuna says, taking another gulp of sake. "Well you're old and stupid! When I become Hokage you'll regret not showing me more respect!" Naruto says. "Even then I still wouldn't respect you." Tazuna says. "I'll kill you!" Naruto yells. "I said no you idiot." Kakashi sighed, holding Naruto back. "Wasn't that a little harsh Tazuna-san?" Mai asks. "It's better to tell an honest opinion than a blatant lie." Tazuna says.

I'd rather be on a D-rank mission right now. We've been just walking this entire time. Mai thought, nearly stepping in a puddle. As they passed the puddle two chunnin came out of the puddle with chains, wrapping them around Kakashi. "One down." The first ninja said as both men pulled on the chain and ripped Kakashi apart. "Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura screamed. Mai's blood grew cold; it was like watching her family killed all over again. She snapped out of her stupor when she saw the two ninja heading towards a terrified Naruto. "Don't freeze up you idiot, move!" Mai yells, tackling him to the ground. Sasuke then pinned the chains to two trees with shuriken, keeping them in place with kunai. Afterwards he landed on their gauntlets, a smirk on his face. Mai stood up and dusted herself off, finally she got some action! The ninja then detached their chains and went straight towards Tazuna and Sakura. Sasuke and Mai both went to intercept them when Kakashi appeared, clothes lining both ninja. "Kakashi-sensei, you're alive!" Sakura says cheerfully. "You asshole!" Mai yells angrily, to think she almost cried about it!

"Sorry for the scare but I needed to see who their real target was. If they were after one of us or Tazuna." Kakashi says, tying the men to a tree. "By the way… good job Mai and Sasuke." He says, resting a hand on both their heads. Mai flinched for a moment and her body tensed, she slowly backed away from him. Kakashi saw that she had a guarded expression on her face, glancing at him suspiciously. The kind gesture on her sensei's part just brought back memories that she tried to lock away. Even though she knew that he was a heartless murderer the pain and anger still couldn't overcome the twisted feeling of love she felt for her father. That was the most terrifying thing her father had ever done, making it almost impossible to hate him.

"_You're daddy's special little girl, always remember that." Kaito says, ruffling her hair. "Daddy I'm your only little girl!" Mai giggles as her father tucked her into bed._

She shook her head; she couldn't keep them out forever. As much as Mai hated to admit it there was a lot she could learn from her father, he was considered a genius in his generation. Not using that knowledge to her advantage would be just plain stupid. "This mission is higher than a B-rank. I think it's time we got an explanation." Kakashi says. Sakura looked at Kakashi nervously. "We're obviously not good enough to handle this, can we quit?" She asks. Does she seriously want us to just abandon this mission and the client? He could get killed! Mai thought. "Well we might need to go back to dress Naruto's wound. Decisions." Kakashi sighs. Before anyone else had a chance to voice their opinion Naruto reopened the poisoned wound on his hand. "Well at least now we won't have to worry about the poison. But that's a lot of blood." Mai comments. "Not that I don't enjoy your enthusiasm but you could bleed out." Kakashi says, Naruto's face paled. "Help me! I don't wanna die!" He yelps.

When Kakashi went to check on his hand it was almost completely healed. "Well?" Naruto asks his gaze fearful. "You'll be fine." Kakashi says, bandaging his hand. "So are we going to continue this mission?" Mai asks. "I think we should here more about this mission from our client before we decide." Kakashi says, looking at Tazuna with a piercing gaze. "Yes, there is something you all should know about this mission. It's more dangerous than the original details I gave tell. A man is after my life to stop the construction of the bridge we're building." Tazuna says gravely. "Who would that be?" Kakashi asks. "Gato." Tazuna says.

There was nowhere else to walk, all the stretched as far as the eye could see was water. Not that they could actually see much, there was a thick fog that made it almost impossible to see two feet in front of them. "Wait, we have to sit in that gondola? In a large body of water?" Mai asks, glaring at the waves. "No we're going to swim to the Land of Waves." Sasuke says sarcastically. Mai ignored the comment, only looking at Kakashi. "Oh yeah, you had a bad run in with water recently." Kakashi comments. "That's an understatement." Mai muttered. The four genin sat near the nose of the gondola, trying to make out shapes in the thick fog. "Whoa! It's huge!" Naruto yells, marveling at the bridge. Mai punched him in the head. "Idiot! Can't you tell we're trying to use stealth?" Mai whispers harshly. Naruto closed his mouth and stayed silent for the rest of the ride.

When they finally reached the dock Mai almost tripped getting out of the gondola, only a firm grip on her wrist kept her from falling. "You need to be more careful Mai." Kakashi says, Mai muttered something under her breath and started walking near Tazuna. Naruto and Sakura were in the front of their group while Sasuke, Mai, and Kakashi were near the back and closer to Tazuna. Now it's my time to outshine Sasuke. Naruto thought with a grin. "Over there!" Naruto yelled, throwing a shuriken into a bush. "No one's there!" Sakura yells. Kakashi looked behind the bush and everyone saw that there was an unconscious rabbit near the shuriken. "Naruto, you do know that rabbit's hearts explode when they're frightened right?" Mai comments. "Don't die little bunny, live!" Naruto begs, shaking the rabbit. And that'll just make it worse. Mai sighed. "Get down!" Kakashi yelled. Before Mai had a chance to react Sasuke tackled her to the ground. "Get off of me!" Mai yells angrily. "Idiot, I just saved your life." Sasuke says smugly. Mai pushed herself off the ground and saw a large broad sword embedded into the tree several yards above them. Its wielder was standing on the handle, looking down ominously at them.

"Kakashi of the Sharinghan eye I presume? If it wouldn't be too much trouble could you surrender the old man?" Zabuza asks. Kakashi gripped the headband over his eye and shifted it up to his forehead. "Assume the manji battle formation and protect Tazuna-san." Kakashi says. "But-" Mai began to protest. "All of you stay out of this fight." Kakashi says, then he revealed his right eye. It was crimson with three black comas, a scar running across it vertically. So that's what the Sharinghan looks like, it's like those pictures in the library. Mai thought, shivering slightly. "What the heck is a Sharinghan?" Naruto asks irritably. "Don't you know anything?" Mai asks. Sasuke went into a brief explanation of what the Sharinghan did with terms that even Naruto understood. "Well Kakashi it looks like I'll have to kill you first." Zabuza says coldly. So we only get to watch Kakashi-sensei fight? Bummer. Mai thought with a wistful sigh. Zabuza then loosened his sword from the tree and went into the middle of the water, standing on its surface without sinking. "Is he walking on water?" Sakura asks in surprise.

"The finest of the ninja arts: the Kirigakure jutsu." Zabuza says as mist began to fill the field. "He disappeared." Mai says nervously, looking around. "Don't worry he'll come after me first. But keep your guard up, Momochi Zabuza is known for silent killing." Kakashi says. The genin looked around intently, Mai was sure that Zabuza would be able to locate them by their erratic heart beats. She had no problems fighting but it was another story if she couldn't see anything around her. "There are eight targets." An eerie voice says from the mist. "Wha, what was that?" Sakura asks. "Vital points, he's talking about vital points." Mai says, her entire body becoming tense. "Very good little girl, can you name them all?" The blood lust in the air was thick, paralyzing the genin in fear. Mai was starting to wish she hadn't voiced her observation. "Throat, spinal column, lungs, liver, jugular vein, subclavian artery, kidney, and the heart." Mai recites. "Well it looks like they're teaching something useful in the academy." Zabuza comments. "I didn't learn that in the academy." Mai spat bitterly. "Calm down everyone, don't let him get to you. Even if he gets to me I'll still protect you." Kakashi says with a smile.

Yeah, that's going to comfort three kids that should have trust issues. Mai thought sarcastically but oddly enough found that she wasn't as anxious anymore. "I wouldn't bet on that." Zabuza says, somehow getting through Team Seven's perimeter around Tazuna. How the heck did he get through? Mai thought in shock. Kakashi knocked all four genin away from Zabuza, stabbing him in the chest with a kunai. Wait, how did he move all of us and stab that guy? Mai wondered. "Kakashi-sensei, behind you!" Naruto yells as the Zabuza Kakashi stabbed fell to the ground as water. Zabuza took a horizontal swing at Kakashi with his sword only to see that Kakashi used a water clone as well. "Game over." Kakashi says, holding a kunai to his neck. "Awesome!" Naruto yelled. Finally. Mai thought with a sigh of relief. "You think that it's over? It'll take more than that to defeat me." Zabuza says. "Great, he's going into a monologue." Mai mutters. "Mai this is not the time to make stupid comments." Sakura says. "So do you want me to make intelligent ones?" Mai asks, Sakura glared at her. "Kill joy." Mai muttered.

The Zabuza in front of Kakashi burst with a splash; the real Zabuza was behind Kakashi and sent him flying into a lake with one powerful kick. Zabuza went to follow up the attack but saw Makibishi on the ground, making him maneuver around them. That guy just sent Kakashi-sensei flying! If only he wasn't a bad guy. Mai thought in disappointment. Just as Kakashi went to get out of the water he was trapped in a water prison jutsu. "Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura yelled. Mai took out a kunai and went into a defensive stance, spotting the water clone that Zabuza created. "You're all still pretending to be ninja huh? A real ninja has had numerous brushes with death. Unfortunately for you it won't be a mere brush." Zabuza says darkly. The water clone charged at Naruto, kicking him across the field and stepping on his headband. Mai glared at the clone, waiting for orders from Kakashi. "You guys just take Tazuna and run away! You don't have any chance of beating him!" Mai glanced to her teammates, none of them were wavering. "There's no way that we're running like cowards sensei, we're not going to abandon a comrade." Mai says, watching Naruto pick himself off the ground.

Naruto charged towards the water clone, about to be kicked once again by the clone. Instead of being hit like he expected Naruto heard a loud Thunk. Mai was in front of him and blocking the kick with her arms. "Well I couldn't let you have all the fun." She says, aiming a high kick to Zabuza's abdominals. The kick was easily caught and Zabuza threw her towards the trees only to see her right herself in midair and land on her hands and feet. "I am not crashing into a tree again." Mai says. "Naruto, Mai what the heck were you thinking?!" Sakura yelled. "My teammate needed backup." Mai says simply. "We're not strong enough to take him out!" "Maybe not alone." Sasuke says quietly. "Finally the Uchiha got it right!" Mai says proudly. "That's right, and I've got a plan." Naruto says, picking up his headband and putting it back on his forehead.


	11. Chapter 11

**Snow-hime: Yay, it's summer!**

**Mai: Thank god, now she doesn't look like a vampire**

**Snow-hime: I wasn't that pale and don't compare me to something that glitters! Hope you all like the chapter, I was a little distracted by swim team and the cute assistant coach. *laughs nervously***

**Naruto: Snow-hime doesn't own me! *hears whispering* What do you mean its the series and not literally me?**

**Snow-hime: *sigh* And thanks Brook Uchiha-Spark Alchemist for pointing out my error in spelling Sharingan. I have no clue why I added that extra h in there. **

Chapter 11

Naruto has a plan for once… Why do I expect that we're in an alternate dimension? Wait no focus! Mai thought, shaking her head. "Didn't you hear me? You all need to run away!" Kakashi yells. Naruto looked back to their client, not starting to doubt their decision to stay. "Don't worry about me; I got myself in this mess. Fight as much as you want." Tazuna says with a grin. "That's all we needed to hear." Naruto says with a grin. "Don't think that this fight is going to be easy." The water clone said, throwing Sasuke to the ground and making the genin spit up blood. A slight spark of rage flashed in Mai's eyes as she punched the water clone, sending it flying into a tree. "Don't do that again." She hissed angrily, trying to refrain herself from charging at him recklessly. "It seems like one of your students has anger issues." The original Zabuza thought aloud, smirking to himself. Mai's chakra had spiked just for a moment, when she saw Sasuke hurt and reacted without thinking. It had been brief but in that moment Kakashi thought that maybe his students did have a chance.

Naruto used his shadow clone jutsu, one or two dozen clones rushing at the water clone. "Idiot! We should be focusing on the original!" Mai yells, trying to hide her irritation. "The original can't move so we need to take out the water clone first." Sasuke says, starting to stand. "Yeah but I don't want to get involved with that dog pile." Mai says, pointing to all the orange jumpsuits that were on top of the clone. They all turned to smoke as the water clone swung his sword in an arc in all directions. "And then there's the huge ass sword that would probably crush some of my bones." She says. Sasuke, Naruto and Mai looked at each other for a moment. "Guys, if we create a distraction maybe we can free Kakashi." Mai whispers. "Who'll be doing the distraction?" Naruto asks Mai looked at him and Sasuke. "You two should be fine. Just don't get yourselves killed." She says with a grin. "Sure, she gets the easy job." Naruto muttered.

Naruto summoned dozens of shadow clones and once again jumped the water clone. "That trick won't work kid." Zabuza says as the clone once again escaped from the dog pile. The original Naruto dug into his pack, taking out a large shuriken and tossing it to Sasuke. Sasuke caught the shuriken and looked around for Mai, when he saw she was nowhere to be found he guessed the plan. Sasuke opened the large shuriken and threw it at the water clone; instead of going in a straight line it curved its path towards the original Zabuza. Zabuza caught it easily only to see a second shuriken rush at him. Zabuza jumped and soon the shuriken was revealed to be Mai. She landed on her feet behind Zabuza and launched herself off the ground towards him. Zabuza had no choice but to take his arm holding the water prison together out so that he could dodge a kick aimed at his neck. "You little brat!" Zabuza yelled angrily, about to slice Mai with the shuriken he caught earlier. Mai still had some forward momentum so she wasn't able to move away from the shuriken. Kakashi suddenly stood in front of Mai, stopping the shuriken with the metal plating on his fingerless gloves.

That was way too close for comfort. Mai thought, taking her cue to back away. Both Zabuza were staring each other down and she had a feeling they were all about to witness the most awesome and terrifying fight ever in their short ni8nja careers. "Guys, shouldn't we help Kakashi-sensei out?" Naruto whispers. "Don't worry he's a jounin, he can handle himself. Hey Sasuke, got any internal bleeding?" Mai asks. "I'm fine." Sasuke says, mostly ignoring her in favor of watching the battle. Mai looked at Sasuke irritably. Fine, she didn't have to talk to him during the rest of the mission. Besides it wasn't like this Zabuza guy had a chance of surviving a fight against Kakashi, right? When both men started to fight it looked as if they were perfectly synchronized. Their movements and ninjutsu all seemed to happen at the same time, like they knew each others movements before they could act them out. So that's the power of the Sharingan. Mai thought in awe, sneaking a glance at Sasuke. Sasuke was absorbed in watching the fight so he didn't notice.

"Man, I wanna join in the fun!" Naruto comments. "Are you nuts? We'd be killed in the cross fire!" Sakura yells, hitting him in the head. "I think that their fight is about to end." Mai says, pointing at their sensei. Zabuza and Kakashi were signing for the same ninjutsu but Kakashi went through the katas quicker, hitting Zabuza with a large water ninjutsu. The water splashed everywhere, nearly knocking everyone off their feet. Kakashi threw two kunai into Zabuza's arm and leg, pinning him to a tree. "That's that." Kakashi says, landing on a tree branch above Zabuza. "Can you… see the future?" Zabuza asks, still feeling paranoid. "I forsee your death." Kakashi says, taking out a kunai to throw at him for the final blow. Before he could two senbon flew through the air and hit Zabuza in the neck. The others turned to see where the unexpected assist came from and saw a young boy with long black hair and a mask covering his face. "Looks like your prediction came true." The ninja says cheerfully. Kakashi went to Zabuza's body and went to check if there was a pulse. He felt nothing and the body was already starting to lose some of its heat. Is that a guy or a girl? Wait, I can't assume that someone with long hair is a girl. Mai thought with a blush, immediately thinking about Neji.

The hunter nin left with Zabuza's body but Mai felt uneasy about something. I have a feeling that I may have forgotten about something important. She thought. "We still need to escort Tazuna-san to his home. Let's get going." Kakashi says. "Don't worry about the fight kids. You can lick your wounds at my house!" Tazuna says with a hearty laugh. Without warning Kakashi suddenly fell to the ground. "Kakashi-sensei!" So there's a draw back to using the Sharingan after all. Mai mused. "It's just our luck to have him pass out at a moment like this." Sakura mutters. "I'll carry him back, it's the least I can do." Tazuna says, about to pick Kakashi up. "Nope, you're still our client. I'll carry him." Mai says. "Are you sure that you can carry him? You're a little tall for your age but he still has at least a foot on ya." Tazuna says. "Don't worry about that." Mai says, tossing their sensei over her shoulder easily. That looks really awkward. Everyone thought. "What are you guys waiting for? I probably have enough energy to run circles around you guys!" Mai says, walking ahead. "We're supposed to stay with Tazuna-san! I don't know if that's just adrenaline or if she really has that much energy." Sakura sighs.

"You got carried by a girl!" Naruto laughed as Kakashi had to stay bed ridden for the day. "Why is that so surprising? Are you trying to say that he's weak for needing my help? You totally had your ass kicked." Mai says. "Yeah well you weren't doing too good either." Naruto says. "Care to run that comment by me again?" Mai asks, cracking her knuckles. "Guys we shouldn't be fighting." Sakura says, holding Mai back. "Well at least we can relax for a while." Tazuna says. "I dunno, I can't get that masked kid out of my head." Sakura says. It was then that Mai remembered something that she read in her father's library. "Wait, aren't hunter nin supposed to dispose of their targets immediately? Why did he take the body?" Mai wonders. "Maybe he thought that we were squeamish." Sakura comments. "We're ninja, we're supposed to get used to this type of thing." Mai says thoughtfully, leaning against the wall. "In that case it's likely that Zabuza is still alive." Kakashi says gravely. "What?!" The genin shouted in disbelief. "Mai, do you remember where Zabuza was hit with the senbon?" Kakashi asks. Mai thought for a moment, then face palmed. "Neither of those spots were vital points! If anything they might have been in the fleshiest part of the neck." Mai says, cursing herself for not figuring this out sooner.

"Couldn't it just be that you're overcomplicating things?" Tazuna asks. "You could be right but whether Zabuza is alive or not we still need to be prepared. He will probably not be the last ninja to come after you." Kakashi says. "You said that as ninja we're supposed to be prepared. But you can't even move!" Sakura protests. "That just means I'm going to increase your training!" Kakashi says. Training? We've trained as a team before? Mai wonders. "Wait, so you think that a little extra training will help us against Zabuza? You're the senior ninja here and he nearly defeated you when you were using the Sharingan!" Sakura says. "That may be true but think about it. You all helped save me and you've all grown from this confrontation." Kakashi says. And learned some interesting things about each other. Sasuke thought, remembering how easily Mai named fatal points in the body and her knowledge on hunter nin. Not only that but they found out that Naruto had enough of a brain to outsmart Zabuza. The only one that hadn't proved their worth was Sakura; all she seemed to be was a mediator that kept three oversized egos from killing each other. "So what type of training is this going to be?" Mai asks excitedly. "You still have a lot of energy Mai but we'll be starting our training tomorrow morning." Kakashi says with a smile.

The next day Mai stuck to Sakura's side like glue, making it obvious that she was upset with the Uchiha. At least I don't have to deal with her annoying energy right now. Sasuke thought as Mai was so filled with energy it looked like she would break out in a sprint at any second. "Today we'll work on chakra control." Kakashi says. "Yeahhhh… chakra. What's that again?" Naruto asks. Why are we stuck with such an idiot? The other genin of Team 7 wondered. "Did you sleep through every class we took?" Sakura yells angrily. "Yeah that's one way that you could put it." Naruto says weakly. "Alright Sakura, you can explain this to Naruto." Kakashi says with a sigh. Mai just tuned out her friend and started poking the tree she was leaning against. She vaguely wondered if one day it would come to life and slapped her with its thick branches for being annoying. She couldn't help it. She did stupid or silly stuff when she was bored out of her mind! "I don't do well with long winded lectures. Just show me what to do and I'll get it." Naruto says. "Besides we can all already use our chakra." Sasuke says. Kakashi waited for Mai to put in her two sense but she was silent, more interested in a tree than what they were saying. What's making her space out so much? Kakashi wondered.

"Mai!" Mai jumped almost a full foot in the air, gathering herself in a defensive position. "Calm down, I just wanted to tell you what we're supposed to be doing." Sakura says, frowning slightly. "Sorry." Mai mutters. "Anyways, we're supposed to be climbing tree using only chakra on our feet." Sakura says. "So we're just using chakra control?" Mai asks. "Yep! Of course Sasuke will get it right the first time." Sakura says dreamily. Ignore it Mai, at least she decreased the amount she idolized Sasuke. Hopefully she doesn't really think that a guy like him will give her a chance. Mai thought. "I don't know about that, you need to have perfect balance. Naruto and Sasuke are usually power houses." Mai says, Sakura raised an eyebrow. "And you're not?" Mai cursed under her breath. "Not all the time, I just like being straight forward." Mai protests. "Stop bickering, I'm hoping that this training won't take us all week." Kakashi comments.

They all rushed at the tree with varying results. Naruto didn't have enough chakra to stick to the tree and slipped while Sasuke used too much chakra and broke the bark. Sakura got up the tree easily and sat on a tree branch, commenting how easy it was and Mai… "You guys all look like ants from up here!" Mai laughs, hanging upside down from a high up branch with her chakra. She sat on the branch before her chakra had a chance to waver; her chakra reserve still wasn't that much. "Well now we know that our young ladies are the ones that have the best chakra control." Kakashi says. "That's awesome Sakura!" Naruto yelled. "Yes, it's sad to know that everything Naruto said was just empty boasting. And the finest of the Uchiha isn't that impressive either." Kakashi says, goading the two boys. After practicing several times Naruto went over to Sakura and asked her for advice on how to climb the tree. Mai watched as Sasuke kept charging at the tree, not making much improvement. "Hey baka! Maybe if you asked for help you could actually improve." Mai comments. "Like I'm doing something that would increase your ego." Sasuke scoffs. "Jerk." Mai muttered.

"Alright everyone, let's go back to the house for now." Kakashi says. Mai shrugged, tired from using so much chakra. She was more interested in fighting hand to hand but she was glad that she passed this training. If only everything else she learned came that naturally. When they came back to the house Tsunami already had dinner ready. The boys stuffed their faces, making Sakura and Mai sigh in disappointment. Sure they were starving but couldn't they be civil while eating? "More!" Naruto and Sasuke yelled, glaring at each other. They're going to waste a lot of food. Mai thought, finishing off her plate and getting ready to wash it off. "You don't want any more food?" Tsunami asks. "I'll be fine; I'm just going for a walk." Mai says, getting up from the table. She took her pack with her and walked out of the house. "What's up with her being all mysterious all of a sudden?" Naruto asks with his mouth full. "It's not wise to question her actions. She'll tell us if she wants to." Kakashi says.

Neji would kill me if I didn't do any taijutsu training, maybe I'll be lucky and go to sleep without any dreams. Mai thought, practicing her stances. Her body fell into a familiar rhythm as she struck out with her fists and practiced various kicks, imagining exactly where they would land on an opponent. Now that she was starting to calm down she could finally think to herself. Was Neji's first mission like this? Mai wondered. No, Mai didn't think this type of situation was normal. Sweat ran down her neck and she practiced until she struggled for breath. "That's weird; I usually have more energy than this. This is pathetic." Mai muttered, leaning against a tree. "That's because it's chakra exhaustion, not physical exhaustion." Kakashi says, walking over to her with crutches. "Although I have a feeling that you have more chakra than you currently have access to." He says. Mai shuffled her feet. "It's not that simple it isn't normal chakra. The only person that knows how to control it isn't in the village anymore. I can only theorize about what makes the chakra accessible." Mai says with a frown.

"If it helps any it seems like it's connected to your emotions." Kakashi says. Mai thought it over for a minute, whenever she used the chakra she was extremely pissed off about something. Kakashi seemed to ponder the idea for a moment. "If we could find a way to trigger the right emotions I have a feeling that you could become more skilled than you are now." Kakashi says. "You mean actually making myself that angry with some kind of a trigger? I don't know, it isn't a good idea." Mai mutters, remembering the random fits of rage that her brother would have that scared the hell out of her. She hated thinking that she would make herself that mad on purpose just to become more powerful. "It's just a thought you don't have to follow through on it. You also should come back inside; our hosts are starting to worry." Kakashi says. Mai let out a sigh of defeat and followed him back to the house. "That was a really long walk!" Naruto comments loudly. "Shut up, I'm going to sleep." Mai mutters, rubbing her eyes sleepily. "Remember Mai, you have to watch the progress the boys make on their tree climbing. And they'll be waking up early." Kakashi says with a grin. "Whatever." She muttered. As soon as she got to her room she fell asleep immediately, dreaming that she was still training with Team 9. A smile slowly spread across her face.


End file.
